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Green  mansions 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

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http://www.archive.org/details/greenmansionsromhuds 


BY 

W.  H.  HUDSON 

"[He]  has  a  supreme  gift  of  disclosing  not  only  the 
thing  he  sees  but  the  spirit  of  his  vision." 

— John  Galsworthy 

A    LITTLE   BOY   LOST 
AFOOT    IN    ENGLAND 
BIRDS    AND    MEN 
GREEN    MANSIONS 
RALPH   HERNE 

These   are   Borzoi   Books,   published   by 

ALFRED    A.    KNOPF 


Green  Mansions:   a  Romance  o/ 

the   Tropical    Forest    by    W.    H.    Hudson 


I 


Green  Mansions:  A  Romance  of 

the  Tropical  Forest  by  W,  H.  Hudson 


With  an  Introduction  by 

John   Galsworthy 


New  York  ^gg^^535^    Mcmxxxvii 

Alfred  A.  Knopf 


Copyright  1916  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 

All  rights  reserved.  No  part  of  this  book  may  be  re- 
produced in  any  form  without  permission  in  writing 
from  the  publisher,  except  by  a  reviewer  who  may 
quote  brief  passages  in  a  review  to  be  printed  in  a 
magazine  or  newspaper. 

Published  March  10,  1916 

Reprinted  Nineteen  Times 

Twenty-first  Printing,  January  1937 


MANUFACTURED    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES   OF 
AMERICA 


FOREWORD 


FOREWORD 

I  take  up  pen  for  this  foreword  with  the  fear  of 
one  who  knows  that  he  cannot  do  justice  to  his  sub- 
ject, and  the  trembling  of  one  who  would  not,  for  a 
good  deal,  set  down  words  unpleasing  to  the  eye  of 
him  who  wrote  "  Green  Mansions,"  "  The  Purple 
Land,"  and  all  those  other  books  which  have  meant  so 
much  to  me.  For  of  all  living  authors  —  now  that 
Tolstoi  has  gone  —  I  could  least  dispense  with  W.  H. 
Hudson.  Why  do  I  love  his  writing  so  ?  I  think  be- 
cause he  is,  of  living  writers  that  I  read,  the  rarest 
spirit,  and  has  the  clearest  gift  of  conveying  to  me 
the  nature  of  that  spirit.  Writers  are  to  their  read- 
ers little  new  worlds  to  be  explored ;  and  each  traveller 
in  the  realms  of  literature  must  needs  have  a  favourite 
hunting  ground,  which,  in  his  good  will  —  or  perhaps 
merely  in  his  egoism  —  he  would  wish  others  to  share 
with  him. 

The  great  and  abiding  misfortunes  of  most  of  us 
writers  are  twofold :  We  are,  as  worlds,  rather  com- 
mon tramping  ground  for  our  readers,  rather  tame 
territory ;  and  as  guides  and  dragomans  thereto 
we  are  too  superficial,  lacking  clear  intimacy  of  ex- 


viii  FOREWORD 

pression ;  in  fact, —  like  guide  or  dragoman  —  we  can- 
not let  folk  into  the  real  secrets,  or  show  them  the 
spirit,  of  the  land. 

Now  Hudson,  whether  in  a  pure  romance  like  this 
"  Green  Mansions,"  or  in  that  romantic  piece  of  real- 
ism "  The  Purple  Land,"  or  in  books  like  "  Idle  Days 
in  Patagonia,"  "  Afoot  in  England,"  "  The  Land's 
End,"  "  Adventures  Among  Birds,"  "  A  Shepherd's 
Life  "  and  all  his  other  nomadic  records  of  com- 
munings with  men,  birds,  beasts,  and  Nature,  has  a 
supreme  gift  of  disclosing  not  only  the  thing  he  sees 
but  the  spirit  of  his  vision.  Without  apparent  effort 
he  takes  you  with  him  into  a  rare,  free,  natural  world, 
and  always  you  are  refreshed,  stimulated,  enlarged, 
by  going  there. 

He  is  of  course  a  distinguished  naturalist,  probably 
the  most  acute,  broad-minded,  and  understanding  ob- 
server of  Nature,  living.  And  this,  in  an  age  of  spe- 
cialism, which  loves  to  put  men  into  pigeon-holes  and 
label  them,  has  been  a  misfortune  to  the  reading  pub- 
lic, who  seeing  the  label  Naturalist,  pass  on  and  take 
down  the  nearest  novel.  Hudson  has  indeed  the  gifts 
and  knowledge  of  a  Naturalist,  but  that  is  a  mere 
fraction  of  his  value  and  interest.  A  really  great 
writer  such  as  this  is  no  more  to  be  circumscribed  by 
a  single  word  than  America  by  the  part  of  it  called 


FOREWORD  ix 

New  York.  The  expert  knowledge  which  Hudson  has  J 
of  Nature  gives  to  all  his  work  backbone  and  surety  / 
of  fibre,  and  to  his  sense  of  beauty  an  intimate  actu-  ) 
ality.  But  his  real  eminence  and  extraordinary  at- 
traction lie  in  his  spirit  and  philosophy.  We  feel 
from  his  writings  that  he  is  nearer  to  Nature  than 
other  men,  and  yet  more  truly  civilised.  The  com- 
petitive, towny  culture,  the  queer  up-to-date  com- 
mercial knowingness  with  which  we  are  so  busy  coat- 
ing ourselves,  simply  will  not  stick  to  him.  A  pas- 
sage in  his  "  Hampshire  Days  "  describes  him  better 
than  I  can :  "  The  blue  sky,  the  brown  soil  beneath, 
the  grass,  the  trees,  the  animals,  the  wind,  and  rain, 
and  stars  are  never  strange  to  me;  for  I  am  in  and 
of  and  am  one  with  them ;  and  my  flesh  and  the  soil 
are  one,  and  the  heat  in  my  blood  and  in  the  sun- 
shine are  one,  and  the  winds  and  the  tempests  and 
my  passions  are  one.  I  feel  the  4  strangeness  '  only 
with  regard  to  my  fellow  men,  especially  in  towns, 
where  they  exist  in  conditions  unnatural  to  me,  but 
congenial  to  them.  ...  In  such  moments  we  some- 
times feel  a  kinship  with,  and  are  strangely  drawn  to, 
the  dead,  who  were  not  as  these ;  the  long,  long  dead, 
the  men  who  knew  not  life  in  towns,  and  felt  no 
strangeness  in  sun  and  wind  and  rain."  This  un- 
spoiled unity  with  Nature  pervades  all  his  writings ; 


x  FOREWORD 

they  are  remote  from  the  fret  and  dust  and  pettiness 
of  town  life ;  they  are  large,  direct,  free.  It  is  not 
quite  simplicity,  for  the  mind  of  this  writer  is  subtle 
and  fastidious,  sensitive  to  each  motion  of  natural 
and  human  life;  but  his  sensitiveness  is  somehow 
different  from,  almost  inimical  to,  that  of  us  others, 
who  sit  indoors  and  dip  our  pens  in  shades  of  feeling. 
Hudson's  fancy  is  akin  to  the  flight  of  the  birds  that 
are  his  special  loves  —  it  never  seems  to  have  entered 
a  house,  but  since  birth  to  have  been  roaming  the 
air,  in  rain  and  sun,  or  visiting  the  trees  and  the  grass. 
I  not  only  disbelieve  utterly,  but  intensely  dislike,  the 
doctrine  of  metempsychosis,  which,  if  I  understand 
it  aright,  seems  the  negation  of  the  creative  impulse, 
an  apotheosis  of  staleness  —  nothing  quite  new  in 
the  world,  never  anything  quite  new  —  not  even  the 
soul  of  a  baby;  and  so  I  am  not  prepared  to  en- 
tertain the  whim  that  a  bird  was  one  of  his  remote 
incarnations ;  still,  in  sweep  of  wing,  quickness  of 
eye,  and  natural  sweet  strength  of  song  he  is  not 
unlike  a  super-bird  —  which  is  a  horrid  image. 

And  that  reminds  me:  This,  after  all,  is  a  fore- 
word to  "  Green  Mansions  " —  the  romance  of  the 
bird-girl  Rima  —  a  story  actual  yet  fantastic,  which 
immortalises,  I  think,  as  passionate  a  love  of  all 
beautiful  things   as  ever  was  in   the  heart   of  man. 


FOREWORD  xi 

Somewhere  Hudson  says :  "  The  sense  of  the  beau- 
tiful is  God's  best  gift  to  the  human  soul."  So  it 
is ;  and  to  pass  that  gift  on  to  others,  in  such  meas- 
ure as  herein  is  expressed,  must  surely  have  been 
happiness  to  him  who  wrote  "  Green  Mansions."  In 
form  and  spirit  the  book  is  unique,  a  simple  romantic 
narrative  transmuted  by  sheer  glow  of  beauty  into  a 
prose  poem.  Without  ever  departing  from  its  qual- 
ity of  a  tale,  it  symbolises  the  yearning  of  the  human 
soul  for  the  attainment  of  perfect  love  and  beauty 
in  this  life  —  that  impossible  perfection  which  we 
must  all  learn  to  see  fall  from  its  high  tree  and  be 
consumed  in  the  flames,  as  was  Rima  the  bird-girl, 
but  whose  fine  white  ashes  we  gather  that  they  may  be 
mingled  at  last  with  our  own,  when  we  too  have  been 
refined  by  the  fire  of  death's  resignation.  The  book 
is  soaked  through  and  through  with  a  strange  beauty. 
I  will  not  go  on  singing  its  praises,  or  trying  to 
make  it  understood,  because  I  have  other  words  to 
say  of  its  author. 

Do  we  realize  how  far  our  town  life  and  culture 
have  got  away  from  things  that  really  matter;  how 
instead  of  making  civilisation  our  handmaid  to  free- 
dom we  have  set  her  heel  on  our  necks,  and  under  it 
bite  dust  all  the  time?  Hudson,  whether  he  knows 
it  or  not,  is  now  the  chief  standard-bearer  of  another 


xii  FOREWORD 

faith.  Thus  he  spake  in  "  The  Purple  Land " : 
"  Ah,  yes,  we  are  all  vainly  seeking  after  happiness 
in  the  wrong  way.  It  was  with  us  once  and  ours, 
but  we  despised  it,  for  it  was  only  the  old  common 
happiness  which  Nature  gives  to  all  her  children,  and 
we  went  away  from  it  in  search  of  another  grander 
kind  of  happiness  which  some  dreamer  —  Bacon  or 
another  —  assured  us  we  should  find.  We  had  only 
to  conquer  Nature,  find  out  her  secrets,  make  her 
our  obedient  slave,  then  the  Earth  would  be  Eden, 
and  every  man  Adam  and  every  woman  Eve.  We 
are  still  marching  bravely  on,  conquering  Nature,  but 
how  weary  and  sad  we  are  getting!  The  old  joy  in 
life  and  gaiety  of  heart  have  vanished,  though  we 
do  sometimes  pause  for  a  few  moments  in  our  long 
forced  march  to  watch  the  labours  of  some  pale 
mechanician,  seeking  after  perpetual  motion,  and  in- 
dulge in  a  little,  dry,  cackling  laugh  at  his  expense." 
And  again :  "  For  here  the  religion  that  languishes 
in  crowded  cities  or  steals  shame-faced  to  hide  itself 
in  dim  churches,  flourishes  greatly,  filling  the  soul 
with  a  solemn  joy.  Face  to  face  with  Nature  on 
the  vast  hills  at  eventide,  who  does  not  feel  himself 
near  to  the  Unseen? 

"  Out  of  his  heart  God  shall  not  pass 
His  image  stamped  is  on  every  grass." 


FOREWORD  xiii 

All  Hudson's  books  breathe  this  spirit  of  revolt 
against  our  new  enslavement  by  towns  and  machinery, 
and  are  true  Oases  in  an  Age  so  dreadfully  resigned 
to   the   "  pale  mechanician." 

But  Hudson  is  not,  as  Tolstoi  was,  a  conscious 
prophet;  his  spirit  is  freer,  more  wilful,  whimsical 
■ —  almost  perverse  —  and  far  more  steeped  in  love  of 
beauty.  If  you  called  him  a  prophet  he  would  stamp 
his  foot  at  you  —  as  he  will  at  me  if  he  reads  these 
words ;  but  his  voice  is  prophetic,  for  all  that,  crying 
in  a  wilderness,  out  of  which,  at  the  call,  will  spring 
up  roses  here  and  there,  and  the  sweet-smelling  grass. 
I  would  that  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  Eng- 
land were  made  to  read  him;  and  I  would  that  you 
in  America  would  take  him  to  heart.  He  is  a  tonic, 
a  deep  refreshing  drink,  with  a  strange  and  wonderful 
flavour;  he  is  a  mine  of  new  interests,  and  ways  of 
thought  instinctively  right.  As  a  simple  narrator  he 
is  well-nigh  unsurpassed;  as  a  stylist  he  has  few,  if 
any,  living  equals.  And  in  all  his  work  there  is  an 
indefinable  freedom  from  any  thought  of  after-bene- 
fit —  even  from  the  desire  that  we  should  read  him. 
He  puts  down  what  he  sees  and  feels,  out  of  sheer 
love  of  the  thing  seen,  and  the  emotion  felt;  the 
smell  of  the  lamp  has  not  touched  a  single  page  that 
he  ever  wrote.     That  alone  is  a  marvel  to  us  who 


xiv  FOREWORD 

know  that  to  write  well,  even  to  write  clearly,  is  a 
woundy  business,  long  to  learn,  hard  to  learn,  and 
no  gift  of  the  angels.  Style  should  not  obtrude  be- 
tween a  writer  and  his  reader;  it  should  be  servant, 
not  master.  To  use  words  so  true  and  simple,  that 
they  oppose  no  obstacle  to  the  flow  of  thought  and 
feeling  from  mind  to  mind,  and  yet  by  juxtaposition 
of  word-sounds  set  up  in  the  recipient  continuing 
emotion  or  gratification  —  this  is  the  essence  of  style ; 
and  Hudson's  writing  has  preeminently  this  dou- 
ble quality.  From  almost  any  page  of  his  books  an 
example  might  be  taken.  Here  is  one  no  better  than 
a  thousand  others,  a  description  of  two  little  girls  on 
a  beach :  "  They  were  dressed  in  black  frocks  and 
scarlet  blouses,  which  set  off  their  beautiful  small 
dark  faces ;  their  eyes  sparkled  like  black  diamonds, 
and  their  loose  hair  was  a  wonder  to  see,  a  black  mist 
or  cloud  about  their  heads  and  necks  composed  of 
threads  fine  as  gossamer,  blacker  than  jet  and  shin- 
ing like  spun  glass  —  hair  that  looked  as  if  no  comb 
or  brush  could  ever  tame  its  beautiful  wildness.  And 
in  spirit  they  were  what  they  seemed:  such  a  wild, 
joyous,  frolicsome  spirit,  with  such  grace  and  fleet- 
ness,  one  does  not  look  for  in  human  beings,  but 
only    in    birds    or   in   some    small    bird-like    volatile 


FOREWORD  xv 

mammal  —  a  squirrel  or  a  spider-monkey  of  the 
tropical  forest,  or  the  chinchilla  of  the  desolate  moun- 
tain slopes;  the  swiftest,  wildest,  loveliest,  most  airy 
and  most  vocal  of  small  beasties."  Or  this,  as  the 
quintessence  of  a  sly  remark :  "  After  that  Manuel 
got  on  to  his  horse  and  rode  away.  It  was  black 
and  rainy,  but  he  had  never  needed  moon  or  lantern 
to  find  what  he  sought  by  night,  whether  his  own 
house,  or  a  fat  cow  —  also  his  own,  perhaps."  So 
one  might  go  on  quoting  felicity  for  ever  from  this 
writer.  He  seems  to  touch  every  string  with  fresh 
and  uninked  fingers ;  and  the  secret  of  his  power  lies, 
I  suspect,  in  the  fact  that  his  words :  "  Life  being 
/nore  than  all  else  to  me  .  .   ."  are  so  utterly  true. 

I  do  not  descant  on  his  love  for  simple  folk  and 
simple  things,  his  championship  of  the  weak,  and  the 
revolt  against  the  cagings  and  cruelties  of  life, 
whether  to  men  or  birds  or  beasts,  that  springs  out 
of  him  as  if  against  his  will;  because,  having  spoken 
of  him  as  one  with  a  vital  philosophy  or  faith,  I 
don't  wish  to  draw  red  herrings  across  the  main  trail 
of  his  worth  to  the  world.  His  work  is  a  vision  of 
natural  beauty  and  of  human  life  as  it  might  be, 
quickened  and  sweetened  by  the  sun  and  the  wind  and 
the  rain,  and  by  fellowship  with  all  the  other  forms 


xvi  FOREWORD 

of  life  —  the  truest  vision  now  being  given  to  us,  who 
are  more  in  want  of  it  than  any  generation  has  ever 
been.  A  very  great  writer ;  and  —  to  my  thinking 
—  the  most  valuable  our  Age  possesses. 

John  Galsworthy. 

September,  1915. 
Manaton:  Devon. 


GREEN  MANSIONS 


GREEN  MANSIONS 


PROLOGUE 

IT  is  a  cause  of  very  great  regret  to  me  that  this 
task  has  taken  so  much  longer  a  time  than  I  had 
expected  for  its  completion.  It  is  now  many  months 
— over  a  year,  in  fact — since  I  wrote  to  George- 
town announcing  my  intention  of  publishing,  in  a 
very  few  months,  the  whole  truth  about  Mr.  Abel. 
Hardly  less  could  have  been  looked  for  from  his  near- 
est friend,  and  I  had  hoped  that  the  discussion  in 
the  newspapers  would  have  ceased,  at  all  events, 
until  the  appearance  of  the  promised  book.  It  has 
not  been  so ;  and  at  this  distance  from  Guiana  I  was 
not  aware  of  how  much  conjectural  matter  was  being 
printed  week  by  week  in  the  local  press,  some  of 
which  must  have  been  painful  reading  to  Mr.  Abel's 
friends.  A  darkened  chamber,  the  existence  of 
which  had  never  been  suspected  in  that  familiar 
house  in  Main  Street,  furnished  only  with  an  ebony 
stand  on  which  stood  a  cinerary  urn,  its  surface 
ornamented  with  flower  and  leaf  and  thorn,  and  wind- 
ing through  it  all  the  figure  of  a  serpent ;  an  inscrip- 


2  GREEN  MANSIONS 

tion,  too,  of  seven  short  words  which  no  one  could 
understand  or  rightly  interpret ;  and  finally,  the  dis- 
posal of  the  mysterious  ashes — that  was  all  there 
was  relating-  to  an  untold  chapter  in  a  man's  life  for 
imagination  to  work  on.  Let  us  hope  that  now,  at 
last,  the  romance-weaving  will  come  to  an  end.  It 
was,  however,  but  natural  that  the  keenest  curiosity 
should  have  been  excited ;  not  only  because  of  that 
peculiar  and  indescribable  charm  of  the  man,  which 
all  recognised  and  which  won  all  hearts,  but  also  be- 
cause of  that  hidden  chapter — that  sojourn  in  the 
desert,  about  which  he  preserved  silence.  It  was 
felt  in  a  vague  way  by  his  intimates  that  he  had  met 
with  unusual  experiences  which  had  profoundly  af- 
fected him  and  changed  the  course  of  his  life.  To 
me  alone  was  the  truth  known,  and  I  must  now  tell, 
briefly  as  possible,  how  my  great  friendship  and  close 
intimacy  with  him  came  about. 

When,  in  1887,  I  arrived  in  Georgetown  to  take 
up  an  appointment  in  a  public  office,  I  found  Mr. 
Abel  an  old  resident  there,  a  man  of  means  and  a  fa- 
vourite in  society.  Yet  he  was  an  alien,  a  Venezue- 
lan, one  of  that  turbulent  people  on  our  border  whom 
the  colonists  have  always  looked  on  as  their  natural 
enemies.  The  story  told  to  me  was  that  about 
twelve  years  before  that  time  he  had  arrived  at 
Georgetown  from  some  remote  district  in  the  in- 
terior; that  he  had  journeyed  alone  on  foot  across 
half  the   continent  to   the   coast,   and  had  first  ap- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  3 

peared  among  them,  a  young  stranger,  penniless,  in 
rags,  wasted  almost  to  a  skeleton  by  fever  and  mis- 
ery of  all  kinds,  his  face  blackened  by  long  exposure 
to  sun  and  wind.  Friendless,  with  but  little  Eng- 
lish, it  was  a  hard  struggle  for  him  to  live;  but  he 
managed  somehow,  and  eventually  letters  from  Cara- 
cas informed  him  that  a  considerable  property  of 
which  he  had  been  deprived  was  once  more  his  own, 
and  he  was  also  invited  to  return  to  his  country  to 
take  Iris  part  in  the  government  of  the  republic.  But 
Mr.  Abel,  though  young,  had  already  outlived  po- 
litical passions  and  aspirations,  and,  apparently, 
even  the  love  of  his  country ;  at  all  events,  he  elected 
to  stay  where  he  was — his  enemies,  he  would  say 
smilingly,  were  his  best  friends — and  one  of  the 
first  uses  he  made  of  his  fortune  was  to  buy  that 
house  in  Main  Street  which  was  afterwards  like  a 
home  to  me. 

I  must  state  here  that  my  friend's  full  name  was 
Abel  Guevez  de  Argensola,  but  in  his  early  days  in 
Georgetown  he  was  called  by  his  christian  name  only, 
and  later  he  wished  to  be  known  simply  as  "  Mr, 
Abel." 

I  had  no  sooner  made  his  acquaintance  than  I 
ceased  to  wonder  at  the  esteem  and  even  affection 
with  which  he,  a  Venezuelan,  was  regarded  in  this 
British  colony.  All  knew  and  liked  him,  and  the  rea- 
son of  it  was  the  personal  charm  of  the  man,  his 
kindly   disposition,   his   manner   with   women,   whi^ 


4  GREEN  MANSIONS 

pleased  them  and  excited  no  man's  jealousy — not 
even  the  old  hot-tempered  planter's,  with  a  very 
young  and  pretty  and  light-headed  wife — his  love  of 
little  children,  of  all  wild  creatures,  of  nature,  and 
of  whatsoever  was  furthest  removed  from  the  com- 
mon material  interests  and  concerns  of  a  purely  com- 
mercial community.  The  things  which  excited  other 
men — politics,  sport,  and  the  price  of  crystals — 
were  outside  of  his  thoughts ;  and  when  men  had  done 
with  them  for  a  season,  when  like  the  tempest  they 
had  "  blown  their  fill  "  in  office  and  club-room  and 
house  and  wanted  a  change,  it  was  a  relief  to  turn  to 
Mr.  Abel  and  get  him  to  discourse  of  his  world — the 
world  of  nature  and  of  the  spirit. 

It  was,  all  felt,  a  good  thing  to  have  a  Mr.  Abel 
in  Georgetown.  That  it  was  indeed  good  for  me  I 
quickly  discovered.  I  had  certainly  not  expected  to 
meet  in  such  a  place  with  any  person  to  share  my 
tastes — that  love  of  poetry  which  has  been  the  chief 
passion  and  delight  of  my  life;  but  such  an  one  I 
had  found  in  Mr.  Abel.  It  surprised  me  that  he, 
suckled  on  the  literature  of  Spain,  and  a  reader  of 
only  ten  or  twelve  years  of  English  literature,  pos- 
sessed a  knowledge  of  our  modern  poetry  as  intimate 
as  my  own,  and  a  love  of  it  equally  great.  This  feel- 
ing brought  us  together,  and  made  us  two — the  nerv- 
ous olive-skinned  Hispano-American  of  the  tropics 
and  the  phlegmatic  blue-eyed  Saxon  of  the  cold  north 
— one  in  spirit  and  more  than  brothers.     Many  were 


GREEN  MANSIONS  5 

the  daylight  hours  we  spent  together  and  "  tired  the 
sun  with  talking " ;  many,  past  counting,  the  pre- 
cious evenings  in  that  restful  house  of  his  where  I  was 
an  almost  daily  guest.  I  had  not  looked  for  such 
happiness ;  nor,  he  often  said,  had  he.  A  result  of 
this  intimacy  was  that  the  vague  idea  concerning  his 
hidden  past,  that  some  unusual  experience  had  pro- 
foundly affected  him  and  perhaps  changed  the  whole 
course  of  his  life,  did  not  diminish,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, became  accentuated,  and  was  often  in  my 
mind.  The  change  in  him  was  almost  painful  to 
witness  whenever  our  wandering  talk  touched  on  the 
subject  of  the  aborigines,  and  of  the  knowledge  he 
had  acquired  of  their  character  and  languages  when 
living  or  travelling  among  them;  all  that  made  his 
conversation  most  engaging — the  lively,  curious 
mind,  the  wit,  the  gaiety  of  spirit  tinged  with  a  ten- 
der melancholy — appeared  to  fade  out  of  it ;  even  the 
expression  of  his  face  would  change,  becoming  hard 
and  set,  and  he  would  deal  you  out  facts  in  a  dry 
mechanical  way  as  if  reading  them  in  a  book.  It 
grieved  me  to  note  this,  but  I  dropped  no  hint  of 
such  a  feeling,  and  would  never  have  spoken  about  it 
but  for  a  quarrel  which  came  at  last  to  make  the  one 
brief  solitary  break  in  that  close  friendship  of  years. 
I  got  into  a  bad  state  of  health,  and  Abel  was  not 
only  much  concerned  about  it,  but  annoyed,  as  if  I 
had  not  treated  him  well  by  being  ill,  and  he  would 
even  say  that  I  could  get  well  if  I  wished  to.     I  did 


6  GREEN  MANSIONS 

not  take  this  seriously,  but  one  morning,  when  call- 
ing to  see  me  at  the  office,  he  attacked  me  in  a  way 
that  made  me  downright  angry  with  him.  He  told 
me  that  indolence  and  the  use  of  stimulants  was  the 
cause  of  my  bad  health.  He  spoke  in  a  mocking 
way,  with  a  pretence  of  not  quite  meaning  it,  but  the 
feeling  could  not  be  wholly  disguised.  Stung  by  his 
reproaches,  I  blurted  out  that  he  had  no  right  to  talk 
to  me,  even  in  fun,  in  such  a  way.  Yes,  he  said,  get- 
ting serious,  he  had  the  best  right — that  of  our 
friendship.  He  would  be  no  true  friend  if  he  kept 
his  peace  about  such  a  matter.  Then,  in  my  haste, 
I  retorted  that  to  me  the  friendship  between  us  did 
not  seem  so  perfect  and  complete  as  it  did  to  him. 
One  condition  of  friendship  is  that  the  partners  in  it 
should  be  known  to  each  other.  He  had  had  my 
whole  life  and  mind  open  to  him,  to  read  it  as  in  a 
book.  His  life  was  a  closed  and  clasped  volume  to 
me. 

His  face  darkened,  and  after  a  few  moments'  silent 
reflection  he  got  up  and  left  me  with  a  cold  good-bye, 
and  without  that  hand-grasp  which  had  been  cus- 
tomary between  us. 

After  his  departure  I  had  the  feeling  that  a  great 
loss,  a  great  calamity,  had  befallen  me,  but  I  was  still 
smarting  at  his  too  candid  criticism,  all  the  more  be- 
cause in  my  heart  I  acknowledged  its  truth.  And 
that  night,  lying  awake,  I  repented  of  the  cruel  re- 
tort I  had  made,  and  resolved  to  ask  his  forgiveness 


GREEN  MANSIONS  7 

and  leave  it  to  him  to  determine  the  question  of  our 
future  relations.  But  he  was  beforehand  with  me, 
and  with  the  morning  came  a  letter  begging  my  for- 
giveness and  asking  me  to  go  that  evening  to  dine 
with  him. 

We  were  alone,  and  during  dinner  and  afterwards, 
when  we  sat  smoking  and  sipping  black  coffee  in  the 
verandah,  we  were  unusually  quiet,  even  to  gravity, 
which  caused  the  two  white-clad  servants  that  waited 
on  us — the  brown-faced  subtle-eyed  old  Hindoo  but- 
ler and  an  almost  blue-black  young  Guiana  negro — 
to  direct  many  furtive  glances  at  their  master's  face. 
They  were  accustomed  to  see  him  in  a  more  genial 
mood  when  he  had  a  friend  to  dine.  To  me  the 
change  in  his  manner  was  not  surprising:  from  the 
moment  of  seeing  him  I  had  divined  that  he  had  de- 
termined to  open  the  shut  and  clasped  volume  of 
which  I  had  spoken — that  the  time  had  now  come  for 
him  to  speak. 


CHAPTER  I 

NOW  that  we  are  cool,  he  said,  and  regret  that 
we  hurt  each  other,  I  am  not  sorry  that  it  hap- 
pened. I  deserved  jour  reproach:  a  hundred  times 
I  have  wished  to  tell  you  the  whole  story  of  my  trav- 
els and  adventures  among  the  savages,  and  one  of  the 
reasons  which  prevented  me  was  the  fear  that  it 
would  have  an  unfortunate  effect  on  our  friendship. 
That  was  precious,  and  I  desired  above  everything 
to  keep  it.  But  I  must  think  no  more  about  that 
now.  I  must  think  only  of  how  I  am  to  tell  you  my 
story.  I  will  begin  at  a  time  when  I  was  twenty- 
three.  It  was  early  in  life  to  be  in  the  thick  of  poli- 
tics, and  in  trouble  to  the  extent  of  having  to  fly  my 
country  to  save  my  liberty,  perhaps  my  life. 

Every  nation,  someone  remarks,  has  the  govern- 
ment it  deserves,  and  Venezuela  certainly  has  the  one 
it  deserves  and  that  suits  it  best.  We  call  it  a  re- 
public, not  only  because  it  is  not  one,  but  also  be- 
cause a  thing  must  have  a  name ;  and  to  have  a  good 
name,  or  a  fine  name,  is  very  convenient — especially 
when  you  want  to  borrow  money.  If  the  Venezue- 
lans, thinly  distributed  over  an  area  of  half  a  million 
square  miles,  mostly  illiterate  peasants,  half-breeds, 


10  GREEN  MANSIONS 

and  indigenes,  were  educated,  intelligent  men,  zealous 
only  for  the  public  weal,  it  would  be  possible  for 
them  to  have  a  real  republic.  They  have  instead  a 
government  by  cliques,  tempered  by  revolution ;  and 
a  very  good  government  it  is,  in  harmony  with  the 
physical  conditions  of  the  country  and  the  national 
temperament.  Now  it  happens  that  the  educated 
men,  representing  your  higher  classes,  are  so  few 
that  there  are  not  many  persons  unconnected  by  ties 
of  blood  or  marriage  with  prominent  members  of  the 
political  groups  to  which  they  belong.  By  this  you 
will  see  how  easy  and  almost  inevitable  it  is  that  we 
should  become  accustomed  to  look  on  conspiracy  and 
revolt  against  the  regnant  party — the  men  of  an- 
other clique — as  only  in  the  natural  order  of  things. 
In  the  event  of  failure  such  outbreaks  are  punished, 
but  they  are  not  regarded  as  immoral.  On  the  con- 
trary, men  of  the  highest  intelligence  and  virtue 
among  us  are  seen  taking  a  leading  part  in  these  ad- 
ventures. Whether  such  a  condition  of  things  is  in- 
trinsically wrong  or  not,  or  would  be  wrong  in  some 
circumstances  and  is  not  wrong,  because  inevitable, 
in  others,  I  cannot  pretend  to  decide;  and  all  this 
tiresome  prolusion  is  only  to  enable  you  to  under- 
stand how  I — a  young  man  of  unblemished  character, 
not  a  soldier  by  profession,  not  ambitious  of  political 
distinction,  wealthy  for  that  country,  popular  in  so- 
ciety, a  lover  of  social  pleasures,  of  books,  of  nature 
— actuated,  as  I  believed,  by  the  highest  motives,  al- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  11 

lowed  myself  to  be  drawn  very  readily  by  friends  and 
relations  into  a  conspiracy  to  overthrow  the  govern- 
ment of  the  moment,  with  the  object  of  replacing  it 
by  more  worthy  men — ourselves,  to  wit. 

Our  adventure  failed  because  the  authorities  got 
wind  of  the  affair  and  matters  were  precipitated. 
Our  leaders  at  the  moment  happened  to  be  scattered 
over  the  country — some  were  abroad ;  and  a  few  hot- 
headed men  of  the  party,  who  were  in  Caracas  just 
then,  and  probably  feared  arrest,  struck  a  rash  blow : 
the  President  was  attacked  in  the  street  and 
wounded.  But  the  attackers  were  seized,  and  some 
of  them  shot  on  the  following  day.  When  the  news 
reached  me  I  was  at  a  distance  from  the  capital, 
staying  with  a  friend  on  an  estate  he  owned  on  the 
River  Quebrada  Honda,  in  the  State  of  Guarico, 
some  fifteen  to  twenty  miles  from  the  town  of  Zaraza. 
My  friend,  an  officer  in  the  army,  was  a  leader  in  the 
conspiracy ;  and  as  I  was  the  only  son  of  a  man  who 
had  been  greatly  hated  by  the  Minister  of  War,  it 
became  necessary  for  us  both  to  fly  for  our  lives. 
In  the  circumstances  we  could  not  look  to  be  par- 
doned, even  on  the  score  of  youth. 

Our  first  decision  was  to  escape  to  the  sea-coast; 
but  as  the  risk  of  a  journey  to  La  Guayra,  or  any 
other  port  of  embarkation  on  the  north  side  of  the 
country,  seemed  too  great,  we  made  our  way  in  a 
contrary  direction  to  the  Orinoco,  and  downstream 
to  Angostura.     Now,  when  we  had  reached  this  com- 


12  GREEN  MANSIONS 

paratively  safe  breathing-place — safe,  at  all  events, 
for  the  moment — I  changed  my  mind  about  leaving 
or  attempting  to  leave  the  country.  Since  boyhood 
I  had  taken  a  very  peculiar  interest  in  that  vast  and 
almost  unexplored  territory  we  possess  south  of  the 
Orinoco,  with  its  countless  unmapped  rivers  and 
trackless  forests ;  and  in  its  savage  inhabitants,  with 
their  ancient  customs  and  character,  unadulterated 
by  contact  with  Europeans.  To  visit  this  primitive 
wilderness  had  been  a  cherished  dream;  and  I  had  to 
some  extent  even  prepared  myself  for  such  an  ad- 
venture by  mastering  more  than  one  of  the  Indian 
dialects  of  the  northern  states  of  Venezuela.  And 
now,  finding  myself  on  the  south  side  of  our  great 
river,  with  unlimited  time  at  my  disposal,  I  deter- 
mined to  gratify  this  wish.  My  companion  took  his 
departure  towards  the  coast,  while  I  set  about  mak- 
ing preparations  and  hunting  up  information  from 
those  who  had  travelled  in  the  interior  to  trade  with 
the  savages.  I  decided  eventually  to  go  back  up- 
stream, and  penetrate  to  the  interior  in  the  western 
part  of  Guayana,  and  the  Amazonian  territory  bor- 
dering on  Colombia  and  Brazil,  and  to  return  to  An- 
gostura in  about  six  months'  time.  I  had  no  fear  of 
being  arrested  in  the  semi-independent,  and  in  most 
part  savage  region,  as  the  Guayana  authorities  con- 
cerned themselves  little  enough  about  the  political 
upheavals  at  Caracas. 

The  first  five  or  six  months  I  spent  in  Guayana, 


GREEN  MANSIONS  13 

after  leaving  the  city  of  refuge,  were  eventful  enough 
to  satisfy  a  moderately  adventurous  spirit.  A  com- 
plaisant Government  employe  at  Angostura  had  pro- 
vided me  with  a  passport,  in  which  it  was  set  down 
(for  few  to  read)  that  my  object  in  visiting  the  in- 
terior was  to  collect  information  concerning  the  na- 
tive tribes,  the  vegetable  products  of  the  country, 
and  other  knowledge  which  would  be  of  advantage  to 
the  Republic;  and  the  authorities  were  requested  to 
afford  me  protection  and  assist  me  in  my  pursuits. 

I  ascended  the  Orinoco,  making  occasional  expe- 
ditions to  the  small  Christian  settlements  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  right  bank,  also  to  the  Indian 
villages ;  and  travelling  in  this  way,  seeing  and  learn- 
ing much,  in  about  three  months  I  reached  the  River 
Meta.  During  this  period  I  amused  myself  by  keep- 
ing a  journal,  a  record  of  personal  adventures,  im- 
pressions of  the  country  and  people,  both  semi-civi- 
lised and  savage;  and  as  my  journal  grew,  I  began 
to  think  that  on  my  return  at  some  future  time  to 
Caracas,  it  might  prove  useful  and  interesting  to  the 
public,  and  also  procure  me  fame ;  which  thought 
proved  pleasurable  and  a  great  incentive,  so  that  I 
began  to  observe  things  more  narrowly  and  to  study 
expression.     But  the  book  was  not  to  be. 

From  the  mouth  of  the  Meta  I  journeyed  on,  in- 
tending to  visit  the  settlement  of  Atahapo,  where  the 
great  River  Guaviare,  with  other  rivers,  empty  them- 
selves into  the  Orinoco.     But  I  was  not  destined  to 


14  GREEN  MANSIONS 

reach  it,  for  at  the  small  settlement  of  Manapuri  I 
fell  ill  of  a  low  fever;  and  here  ended  the  first  half- 
year  of  my  wanderings,  about  which  no  more  need  be 
told. 

A  more  miserable  place  than  Manapuri  for  a  man 
to  be  ill  of  a  low  fever  in  could  not  well  be  imagined. 
The  settlement,  composed  of  mean  hovels,  with  a 
few  large  structures  of  mud,  or  plastered  wattle, 
thatched  with  palm  leaves,  was  surrounded  by  water, 
marsh,  and  forest,  the  breeding-place  of  myriads  of 
croaking  frogs  and  of  clouds  of  mosquitoes ;  even  to 
one  in  perfect  health  existence  in  such  a  place  would 
have  been  a  burden.  The  inhabitants  mustered 
about  eighty  or  ninety,  mostly  Indians  of  that  de- 
generate class  frequently  to  be  met  with  in  small 
trading  outposts.  The  savages  of  Guayana  are 
great  drinkers,  but  not  drunkards  in  our  sense,  since 
their  fermented  liquors  contain  so  little  alcohol  that 
inordinate  quantities  must  be  swallowed  to  produce 
intoxication ;  in  the  settlements  they  prefer  the  white 
man's  more  potent  poisons,  with  the  result  that  in  a 
small  place  like  Manapuri  one  can  see  enacted,  as  on 
a  stage,  the  last  act  in  the  great  American  tragedy. 
To  be  succeeded,  doubtless,  by  other  and  possibly 
greater  tragedies.  My  thoughts  at  that  period  of 
suffering  were  pessimistic  in  the  extreme.  Some- 
times, when  the  almost  continuous  rain  held  up  for 
half  a  day,  I  would  manage  to  creep  out  a  short  dis- 
tance; but  I  was  almost  past  making  any  exertion, 


GREEN  MANSIONS  15 

scarcely  caring  to  live,  and  taking  absolutely  no  in- 
terest in  the  news  from  Caracas,  which  reached  me 
at  long  intervals.  At  the  end  of  two  months,  feeling 
a  slight  improvement  in  my  health,  and  with  it  a  re- 
turning interest  in  life  and  its  affairs,  it  occurred  to 
me  to  get  out  my  diary  and  write  a  brief  account  of 
my  sojourn  at  Manapuri.  I  had  placed  it  for  safety 
in  a  small  deal  box,  lent  to  me  for  the  purpose  by  a 
Venezuelan  trader,  an  old  resident  at  the  settlement, 
by  name  Pantaleon — called  by  all  Don  Panta — one 
who  openly  kept  half  a  dozen  Indian  wives  in  his 
house,  and  was  noted  for  his  dishonesty  and  greed, 
but  who  had  proved  himself  a  good  friend  ta>  me. 
The  box  was  in  a  corner  of  the  wretched  palm- 
thatched  hovel  I  inhabited;  but  on  taking  it  out  I 
discovered  that  for  several  weeks  the  rain  had  been 
dripping  on  it,  and  that  the  manuscript  was  reduced 
to  a  sodden  pulp.  I  flung  it  upon  the  floor  with  a 
curse,  and  threw  myself  back  on  my  bed  with  a  groan. 
In  that  desponding  state  I  was  found  by  my  friend 
Panta,  who  was  constant  in  his  visits  at  all  hours ; 
and,  when  in  answer  to  his  anxious  inquiries  I  pointed 
to  the  pulpy  mass  on  the  mud  floor,  he  turned  it  over 
with  his  foot,  and  then,  bursting  into  a  loud  laugh, 
kicked  it  out,  remarking  that  he  had  mistaken  the  ob- 
ject for  some  unknown  reptile  that  had  crawled  in 
out  of  the  rain.  He  affected  to  be  astonished  that  I 
should  regret  its  loss.  It  was  all  a  true  narrative, 
he  exclaimed ;  if  I  wished  to  write  a  book  for  the  stay- 


16  GREEN  MANSIONS 

at-homes  to  read,  I  could  easily  invent  a  thousand 
lies  far  more  entertaining  than  any  real  experiences. 
He  had  come  to  me,  he  said,  to  propose  something. 
He  had  lived  twenty  years  at  that  place,  and  had  got 
accustomed  to  the  climate,  but  it  would  not  do  for 
me  to  remain  any  longer  if  I  wished  to  live.  I  must 
go  away  at  once  to  a  different  country — to  the  moun- 
tains, where  it  was  open  and  dry.  "  And  if  you 
want  quinine  when  you  are  there,"  he  concluded, 
"  smell  the  wind  when  it  blows  from  the  south-west, 
and  you  will  inhale  it  into  your  system,  fresh  from 
the  forest."  When  I  remarked  despondingly  that  in 
my  condition  it  would  be  impossible  to  quit  Mana- 
puri,  he  went  on  to  say  that  a  small  party  of  Indians 
was  now  in  the  settlement ;  that  they  had  come,  not 
only  to  trade,  but  to  visit  one  of  their  own  tribe,  who 
was  his  wife,  purchased  some  years  ago  from  her 
father.  "  And  the  money  she  cost  me  I  have  never 
regretted  to  this  day,"  said  he,  "  for  she  is  a  good 
wife — not  jealous,"  he  added,  with  a  curse  on  all  the 
others.  These  Indians  came  all  the  way  from  the 
Queneveta  mountains,  and  were  of  the  Maquiritari 
tribe.  He,  Panta,  and,  better  still,  his  good  wife, 
would  interest  them  on  my  behalf,  and  for  a  suitable 
reward  they  would  take  me  by  slow,  easy  stages  to 
their  own  country,  where  I  would  be  treated  well  and 
recover  my  health. 

This  proposal,  after  I  had  considered  it  well,  pro- 
duced so  good  an  effect  on  me,  that  I  not  only  gave  a 


GREEN  MANSIONS  17 

glad  consent,  but,  on  the  following  day,  I  was  able 
to  get  about  and  begin  the  preparations  for  my  jour- 
ney with  some  spirit. 

In  about  eight  days  I  bade  good-bye  to  my  gener- 
ous friend  Panta,  whom  I  regarded,  after  having  seen 
much  of  him,  as  a  kind  of  savage  beast  that  had 
sprung  on  me,  not  to  rend,  but  to  rescue  from  death : 
for  we  know  that  even  cruel  savage  brutes  and  evil 
men  have  at  times  sweet,  beneficent  impulses,  during 
which  they  act  in  a  way  contrary  to  their  natures, 
like  passive  agents  of  some  higher  power.  It  was  a 
continual  pain  to  travel  in  my  weak  condition,  and 
the  patience  of  my  Indians  was  severely  taxed;  but 
they  did  not  forsake  me ;  and,  at  last,  the  entire  dis- 
tance, which  I  conjectured  to  be  about  sixty-five 
leagues,  was  accomplished;  and  at  the  end  I  was 
actually  stronger  and  better  in  every  way  than  at  the 
start.  From  this  time  my  progress  towards  com- 
plete recovery  was  rapid.  The  air,  with  or  without 
any  medicinal  virtue  blown  from  the  cinchona  trees 
in  the  far-off  Andean  forest,  was  tonic ;  and  when  I 
took  my  walks  on  the  hillside  above  the  Indian  village, 
or  later,  when  able  to  climb  to  the  summits,  the  world 
as  seen  from  those  wild  Queneveta  mountains  had  a 
largeness  and  varied  glory  of  scenery  peculiarly  re- 
freshing and  delightful  to  the  soul. 

With  the  Maquiritari  tribe  I  passed  some  weeks, 
and  the  sweet  sensations  of  returning  health  made  me 
happy  for  a  time ;  but  such  sensations  seldom  outlast 


18  GREEN  MANSIONS 

convalescence.  I  was  no  sooner  well  again  than  I  be- 
gan to  feel  a  restless  spirit  stirring  in  me.  The  mo- 
notony of  savage  life  in  this  place  became  intolerable. 
After  my  long  listless  period  the  reaction  had  come, 
and  I  wished  only  for  action,  adventure — no  matter 
how  dangerous ;  and  for  new  scenes,  new  faces,  new 
dialects.  In  the  end  I  conceived  the  idea  of  going  on 
to  the  Casiquiare  river,  where  I  would  find  a  few  small 
settlements,  and  perhaps  obtain  help  from  the  au- 
thorities there  which  would  enable  me  to  reach  the 
Rio  Negro.  For  it  was  now  in  my  mind  to  follow 
that  river  to  the  Amazons,  and  so  down  to  Para  and 
the  Atlantic  coast. 

Leaving  the  Queneveta  range,  I  started  with  two 
of  the  Indians  as  guides  and  travelling  companions ; 
but  their  journey  ended  only  half-way  to  the  river  I 
wished  to  reach;  and  they  left  me  with  some  friendly 
savages  living  on  the  Chunapay,  a  tributary  of  the 
Cunucumana,  which  flows  to  the  Orinoco.  Here  I 
had  no  choice  but  to  wait  until  an  opportunity  of  at- 
taching myself  to  some  party  of  travelling  Indians, 
going  south-west,  should  arrive;  for  by  this  time  I 
had  expended  the  whole  of  my  small  capital  in  orna- 
ments and  calico  brought  from  Manapuri,  so  that  I 
could  no  longer  purchase  any  man's  service.  And 
perhaps  it  will  be  as  well  to  state  at  this  point  just 
what  I  possessed.  For  some  time  I  had  worn  noth- 
ing but  sandals  to  protect  my  feet ;  my  garments 
consisted  of  a  single  suit,  and  one  flannel  shirt,  which 


GREEN  MANSIONS  19 

I  washed  frequently,  going  shirtless  while  it  was  dry- 
ing. Fortunately  I  had  an  excellent  blue  cloth 
cloak,  durable  and  handsome,  given  to  me  by  a  friend 
at  Angostura,  whose  prophecy  on  presenting  it,  that 
it  would  outlast  me,  very  nearly  came  true.  It 
served  as  a  covering  by  night,  and  to  keep  a  man 
warm  and  comfortable  when  travelling  in  cold  and 
wet  weather  no  better  garment  was  ever  made.  I 
had  a  revolver  and  metal  cartridge-box  in  my  broad 
leather  belt,  also  a  good  hunting-knife  with  strong 
buckhorn  handle  and  a  heavy  blade  about  nine  iuches 
long.  In  the  pocket  of  my  cloak  I  had  a  pretty  sil- 
ver tinder-box,  and  a  match-box — to  be  mentioned 
again  in  this  narrative — and  one  or  two  other  trifling 
objects:  these  I  was  determined  to  keep  until  they 
could  be  kept  no  longer. 

During  the  tedious  interval  of  waiting  on  the  Chu- 
napay  I  was  told  a  flattering  tale  by  the  village  In- 
dians, which  eventually  caused  me  to  abandon  the 
proposed  journey  to  the  Rio  Negro.  These  Indians 
wore  necklets,  like  nearly  all  the  Guayana  savages ; 
but  one,  I  observed,  possessed  a  necklet  unlike  that 
of  the  others,  which  greatly  aroused  my  curiosity. 
It  was  made  of  thirteen  gold  plates,  irregular  in 
form,  about  as  broad  as  a  man's  thumb-nail,  and 
linked  together  with  fibres.  I  was  allowed  to  exam- 
ine it,  and  had  no  doubt  that  the  pieces  were  of  pure 
gold,  beaten  flat  by  the  savages.  When  questioned 
about  it  they  said  it  was  originally  obtained  from  the 


20  GREEN  MANSIONS 

Indians  of  Parahuari,  and  Parahuari,  they  further 
said,  was  a  mountainous  country  west  of  the  Orinoco. 
Every  man  and  woman  in  that  place,  they  assured 
me,  had  such  a  necklet.  This  report  inflamed  my 
mind  to  such  a  degree  that  I  could  not  rest  by  night 
or  day  for  dreaming  golden  dreams,  and  considering 
how  to  get  to  that  rich  district,  unknown  to  civilised 
men.  The  Indians  gravely  shook  their  heads  when  I 
tried  to  persuade  them  to  take  me.  They  were  far 
enough  from  the  Orinoco,  and  Parahuari  was  ten, 
perhaps  fifteen,  days'  journey  further  on — a  country 
unknown  to  them,  where  they  had  no  relations. 

In  spite  of  difficulties  and  delays,  however,  and  not 
without  pain  and  some  perilous  adventures,  I  suc- 
ceeded at  last  in  reaching  the  upper  Orinoco,  and, 
eventually,  in  crossing  to  the  other  side.  With  my 
life  in  my  hand  I  struggled  on  westward  through  an 
unknown  difficult  country,  from  Indian  village  to  vil- 
lage, where  at  any  moment  I  might  have  been  mur- 
dered with  impunity  for  the  sake  of  my  few  belong- 
ings. It  is  hard  for  me  to  speak  a  good  word  for 
the  Guayana  savages ;  but  I  must  now  say  this  of 
them,  that  they  not  only  did  me  no  harm  when  I  was 
at  their  mercy  during  this  long  journey,  but  they 
gave  me  shelter  in  their  villages,  and  fed  me  when  I 
was  hungry,  and  helped  me  on  my  way  when  I  could 
make  no  return.  You  must  not,  however,  run  away 
with  the  idea  that  there  is  any  sweetness  in  their  dis- 
position, any  humane  or  benevolent  instincts  such  as 


GREEN  MANSIONS  81 

are  found  among  the  civilised  nations :  far  from  it.  I 
regard  them  now,  and,  fortunately  for  me,  I  regarded 
them  then,  when,  as  I  have  said,  I  was  at  their  mercy, 
as  beasts  of  prey,  plus  a  cunning  or  low  kind  of  in- 
telligence vastly  greater  than  that  of  the  brute ;  and, 
for  only  morality,  that  respect  for  the  rights  of 
other  members  of  the  same  family,  or  tribe,  without 
which  even  the  rudest  communities  cannot  hold  to- 
gether. How,  then,  could  I  do  this  thing,  and  dwell 
and  travel  freely,  without  receiving  harm,  among 
tribes  that  have  no  peace  with  and  no  kindly  feelings 
towards  the  stranger,  in  a  district  where  the  white 
man  is  rarely  or  never  seen?  Because  I  knew  them 
so  well.  Without  that  knowledge,  always  available, 
and  an  extreme  facility  in  acquiring  new  dialects, 
which  had  increased  by  practice  until  it  was  almost 
like  intuition,  I  should  have  fared  badly  after  leaving 
the  Maquiritari  tribe.  As  it  was,  I  had  two  or  three 
very  narrow  escapes. 

To  return  from  this  digression.  I  looked  at  last 
on  the  famous  Parahuari  mountains,  which,  I  was 
greatly  surprised  to  find,  were  after  all  nothing  but 
hills,  and  not  very  high  ones.  This,  however,  did  not 
impress  me.  The  very  fact  that  Parahuari  possessed 
no  imposing  feature  in  its  scenery  seemed  rather  to 
prove  that  it  must  be  rich  in  gold:  how  else  could 
its  name  and  the  fame  of  its  treasures  be  familiar  to 
people  dwelling  so  far  away  as  the  Cunucumana? 

But  there  was  no  gold.     I  searched  through  the 


22  GREEN  MANSIONS 

whole  range,  which  was  about  seven  leagues  long,  and 
visited  the  villages,  where  I  talked  much  with  the  In- 
dians, interrogating  them,  and  they  had  no  necklets 
of  gold,  nor  gold  in  any  form ;  nor  had  they  ever 
heard  of  its  presence  in  Parahuari,  nor  in  any  other 
place  known  to  them. 

The  very  last  village  where  I  spoke  on  the  subject 
of  my  quest,  albeit  now  without  hope,  was  about  a 
league  from  the  western  extremity  of  the  range,  in  the 
midst  of  a  high  broken  country  of  forest  and  savan- 
nah and  many  swift  streams ;  near  one  of  these,  called 
the  Curicay,  the  village  stood,  among  low  scattered 
trees — a  large  building,  in  which  all  the  people,  num- 
bering eighteen,  passed  most  of  their  time  when  not 
hunting,  with  two  smaller  buildings  attached  to  it. 
The  head,  or  chief,  Runi  by  name,  was  about  fifty 
years  old,  a  taciturn,  finely  formed,  and  somewhat 
dignified  savage,  who  was  either  of  a  sullen  disposi- 
tion or  not  well  pleased  at  the  intrusion  of  a  white 
man.  And  for  a  time  I  made  no  attempt  to  concili- 
ate him.  What  profit  was  there  in  it  at  all?  Even 
that  light  mask,  which  I  had  worn  so  long  and  with 
such  good  effect,  incommoded  me  now :  I  would  cast 
it  aside  and  be  myself — silent  and  sullen  as  my  bar- 
barous host.  If  any  malignant  purpose  was  taking 
form  in  his  mind,  let  it,  and  let  him  do  his  worst ;  for 
when  failure  first  stares  a  man  in  the  face  it  has  so 
dark  and  repellent  a  look  that  not  anything  that  can 
be  added  can  make  him  more  miserable ;  nor  has  he 


GREEN  MANSIONS  23 

any  apprehension.  For  weeks  I  had  been  searching 
with  eager,  feverish  eyes  in  every  village,  in  every 
rocky  crevice,  in  every  noisy  mountain  streamlet,  for 
the  glittering  yellow  dust  I  had  travelled  so  far  to 
find.  And  now  all  my  beautiful  dreams — all  the 
pleasure  and  power  to  be — had  vanished  like  a  mere 
mirage  on  the  savannah  at  noon. 

It  was  a  day  of  despair  which  I  spent  in  this  place, 
sitting  all  day  indoors,  for  it  was  raining  hard,  im- 
mersed in  my  own  gloomy  thoughts,  pretending  to 
doze  in  my  seat,  and  out  of  the  narrow  slits  of  my 
half-closed  eyes  seeing  the  others,  also  sitting  or  mov- 
ing about,  like  shadows  or  people  in  a  dream ;  and  I 
cared  nothing  about  them,  and  wished  not  to  seem 
friendly,  even  for  the  sake  of  the  food  they  might 
offer  me  by-and-by. 

Towards  evening  the  rain  ceased ;  and  rising  up  I 
went  out  a  short  distance  to  the  neighbouring  stream, 
where  I  sat  on  a  stone,  and  casting  off  my  sandals, 
laved  my  bruised  feet  in  the  cool  running  water. 
The  western  half  of  the  sky  was  blue  again  with  that 
tender  lucid  blue  seen  after  rain,  but  the  leaves  still 
glittered  with  water,  and  the  wet  trunks  looked  al- 
most black  under  the  green  foliage.  The  rare  loveli- 
ness of  the  scene  touched  and  lightened  my  heart. 
Away  back  in  the  east  the  hills  of  Parahuari,  with 
the  level  sun  full  on  them,  loomed  with  a  strange 
glory  against  the  grey  rainy  clouds  drawing  off  on 
that  side,  and  their  new  mystic  beauty  almost  made 


24  GREEN  MANSIONS 

me  forget  how  these  same  hills  had  wearied,  and  hurt, 
and  mocked  me.  On  that  side,  also  to  the  north  and 
south,  there  was  open  forest,  but  to  the  west  a  differ- 
ent prospect  met  the  eye.  Beyond  the  stream  and 
the  strip  of  verdure  that  fringed  it,  and  the  few  scat- 
tered dwarf  trees  growing  near  its  banks,  spread  a 
brown  savannah  sloping  upwards  to  a  long,  low, 
rocky  ridge,  beyond  which  rose  a  great  solitary  hill, 
or  rather  mountain,  conical  in  form,  and  clothed  in 
forest  almost  to  the  summit.  This  was  the  mountain 
Ytaioa,  the  chief  landmark  in  that  district.  As  the 
sun  went  down  over  the  ridge,  beyond  the  savannah, 
the  whole  western  sky  changed  to  a  delicate  rose- 
colour  that  had  the  appearance  of  rose-coloured 
smoke  blown  there  by  some  far  off-wind,  and  left 
suspended — a  thin,  brilliant  veil  showing  through  it 
the  distant  sky  beyond,  blue  and  ethereal.  Flocks  of 
birds,  a  kind  of  troupial,  were  flying  past  me  over- 
head, flock  succeeding  fleck,  on  their  way  to  their 
roosting-place,  uttering  as  they  flew  a  clear,  bell-like 
chirp;  and  there  was  something  ethereal  too  in  those 
drops  of  melodious  sound,  which  fell  into  my  heart 
like  raindrops  falling  into  a  pool  to  mix  their  fresh 
heavenly  water  with  the  water  of  earth. 

Doubtless  into  the  turbid  tarn  of  my  heart  some 
sacred  drops  had  fallen — from  the  passing  birds, 
from  that  crimson  disc  which  had  now  dropped  below 
the  horizon,  the  darkening  hills,  the  rose  and  blue  of 
infinite  heaven,  from  the  whole  visible  circle ;  and  I 


GREEN  MANSIONS  25 

felt  purified  and  had  a  strange  sense  and  apprehen- 
sion of  a  secret  innocence  and  spirituality  in  na- 
ture— a  prescience  of  some  bourn,  incalculably  dis- 
tant perhaps,  to  which  we  are  all  moving;  of  a  time 
when  the  heavenly  rain  shall  have  washed  us  clean 
from  all  spot  and  blemish.  This  unexpected  peace 
which  I  had  found  now  seemed  to  me  of  infinitely 
greater  value  than  that  yellow  metal  I  had  missed 
finding,  with  all  its  possibilities.  My  wish  now  was 
to  rest  for  a  season  at  this  spot,  so  remote  and  lovely 
and  peaceful,  where  I  had  experienced  such  unusual 
feelings,  and  such  a  blessed  disillusionment. 

This  was  the  end  of  my  second  period  in  Guayana ; 
the  first  had  been  filled  with  that  dream  of  a  book  to 
win  me  fame  in  my  country,  perhaps  even  in  Europe : 
the  second,  from  the  time  of  leaving  the  Queneveta 
mountains,  with  the  dream  of  boundless  wealth — the 
old  dream  of  gold  in  this  region  that  has  drawn  so 
many  minds  since  the  days  of  Alonzo  Pizarro.  But 
to  remain  I  must  propitiate  Runi,  sitting  silent 
with  gloomy  brows  over  there  indoors ;  and  he  did 
not  appear  to  me  like  one  that  might  be  won  with 
words,  however  flattering.  It  was  clear  to  me 
that  the  time  had  come  to  part  with  my  one  remain- 
ing valuable  trinket — the  tinder-box  of  chased 
silver. 

I  returned  to  the  house,  and  going  in  seated  myself 
on  a  log  by  the  fire,  just  opposite  to  my  grim  host, 
who  was  smoking  and  appeared  not  to  have  moved 


26  GREEN  MANSIONS 

since  I  left  him.  I  made  myself  a  cigarette,  then 
drew  out  the  tinder-box,  with  its  flint  and  steel  at- 
tached to  it  by  means  of  two  small  silver  chains. 
His  eyes  brightened  a  little  as  they  curiously  watched 
my  movements,  and  he  pointed  without  speaking  to 
the  glowing  coals  of  fire  at  my  feet.  I  shook  my 
head,  and  striking  the  steel,  sent  out  a  brilliant 
spray  of  sparks,  then  blew  on  the  tinder  and  lit  my 
cigarette.  This  done,  instead  of  returning  the  box 
to  my  pocket  I  passed  the  chain  through  the  button- 
hole of  my  cloak  and  let  it  dangle  on  my  breast  as 
an  ornament.  When  the  cigarette  was  smoked  I 
cleared  my  throat  in  the  orthodox  manner,  and  fixed 
my  eyes  on  Runi,  who,  on  his  part,  made  a  slight 
movement  to  indicate  that  he  was  ready  to  listen  to 
what  I  had  to  say. 

My  speech  was  long,  lasting  at  least  half  an  hour, 
delivered  in  a  profound  silence ;  it  was  chiefly  occu- 
pied with  an  account  of  my  wanderings  in  Guayana; 
and  being  little  more  than  a  catalogue  of  names  of 
all  the  places  I  had  visited,  and  the  tribes  and  chief 
or  head  men  with  whom  I  had  come  in  contact,  I  was 
able  to  speak  continuously,  and  so  to  hide  my  ig- 
norance of  a  dialect  which  was  still  new  to  me.  The 
Guayana  savage  judges  a  man  for  his  staying  pow- 
ers. To  stand  as  motionless  as  a  bronze  statue  for 
one  or  two  hours  watching  for  a  bird;  to  sit  or  lie 
still  for  half  a  day ;  to  endure  pain,  not  seldom  self- 
inflicted,    without    wincing;    and   when    delivering    a 


GREEN  MANSIONS  27 

speech  to  pour  it  out  in  a  copious  stream,  without 
pausing  to  take  breath  or  hesitating  over  a  word — to 
be  able  to  do  all  this  is  to  prove  yourself  a  man,  an 
equal,  one  to  be  respected  and  even  made  a  friend  of. 
What  I  really  wished  to  say  to  him  was  put  in  a  few 
words  at  the  conclusion  of  my  well-nigh  meaningless 
oration.  Everywhere,  I  said,  I  had  been  the  In- 
dian's friend,  and  I  wished  to  be  his  friend,  to  live 
with  him  at  Parahuari,  even  as  I  had  lived  with  other 
chiefs  and  heads  of  villages  and  families  ;  to  be  looked 
on  by  him,  as  these  others  had  looked  on  me,  not  as 
a  stranger  or  a  white  man,  but  as  a  friend,  a  brother, 
an  Indian. 

I  ceased  speaking,  and  there  was  a  slight  murmur- 
ous sound  in  the  room,  as  of  wind  long  pent  up  in 
many  lungs  suddenly  exhaled;  while  Runi,  still  un- 
moved, emitted  a  low  grunt.  Then  I  rose,  and 
detaching  the  silver  ornament  from  my  cloak  pre- 
sented it  to  him.  He  accepted  it ;  not  very  gra- 
ciously, as  a  stranger  to  these  people  might  have 
imagined ;  but  I  was  satisfied,  feeling  sure  that  I  had 
made  a  favourable  impression.  After  a  little  he 
handed  the  box  to  the  person  sitting  next  to  him, 
who  examined  it  and  passed  it  on  to  a  third,  and  in 
this  way  it  went  round  and  came  back  once  more  to 
Runi.  Then  he  called  for  a  drink.  There  hap- 
pened to  be  a  store  of  casserie  in  the  house ;  probably 
the  women  had  been  busy  for  some  days  past  in  mak- 
ing it,  little  thinking  that  it  was  destined  to  be  pre- 


28  GREEN  MANSIONS 

maturely  consumed.  A  large  jarful  was  produced; 
Runi  politely  quaffed  the  first  cup ;  I  followed ;  then 
the  others ;  and  the  women  drank  also,  a  woman 
taking  about  one  cupful  to  a  man's  three.  Runi 
and  I,  however,  drank  the  most,  for  we  had  our  posi- 
tions as  the  two  principal  personages  there  to  main- 
tain. Tongues  were  loosened  now;  for  the  alcohol, 
small  as  the  quantity  contained  in  this  mild  liquor 
is,  had  begun  to  tell  on  our  brains.  I  had  not  their 
pottle-shaped  stomach,  made  to  hold  unlimited  quan- 
tities of  meat  and  drink ;  but  I  was  determined  on 
this  most  important  occasion  not  to  deserve  my 
host's  contempt — to  be  compared,  perhaps,  to  the 
small  bird  that  delicately  picks  up  six  drops  of  water 
in  its  bill  and  is  satisfied.  I  would  measure  my 
strength  against  his,  and  if  necessary  drink  myself 
into  a  state  of  insensibility.  At  last  I  was  scarcely 
able  to  stand  on  my  legs.  But  even  the  seasoned 
old  savage  was  affected  by  this  time.  In  vino  Veri- 
tas, said  the  ancients ;  and  the  principle  holds  good 
where  there  is  no  vinum,  but  only  mild  casserie. 
Runi  now  informed  me  that  he  had  once  known 
a  white  man,  that  he  was  a  bad  man,  which  had 
caused  him  to  say  that  all  white  men  were  bad; 
even  as  David,  still  more  sweepingly,  had  proclaimed 
that  all  men  were  liars.  Now  he  found  that  it  was 
not  so,  that  I  was  a  good  man.  His  friendliness  in- 
creased with  intoxication.  He  presented  me  with  a 
curious  little  tinder-box,  made  from  the  conical  tail 


GREEN  MANSIONS  29 

of  an  armadillo,  hollowed  out,  and  provided  with  a 
wooden  stopper ; — this  to  be  used  in  place  of  the  box 
I  had  deprived  myself  of.  He  also  furnished  me 
with  a  grass  hammock,  and  had  it  hung  up  there  and 
then,  so  that  I  could  lie  down  when  inclined.  There 
was  nothing  he  would  not  do  for  me.  And  at  last, 
when  many  more  cups  had  been  emptied,  and  a  third 
or  fourth  jar  brought  out,  he  began  to  unburthen 
his  heart  of  its  dark  and  dangerous  secrets.  He 
shed  tears — for  the  "  man  without  a  tear  "  dwells 
not  in  the  woods  of  Guayana:  tears  for  those  who 
had  been  treacherously  slain  long  years  ago ;  for  his 
father,  who  had  been  killed  by  Tripica,  the  father  of 
Managa,  who  was  still  above  ground.  But  let  him 
and  all  his  people  beware  of  Runi.  He  had  spilt  their 
blood  before,  he  had  fed  the  fox  and  vulture  with 
their  flesh,  and  would  never  rest  while  Managa  lived 
with  his  people  at  Uritay — the  five  hills  of  Uritay, 
which  were  two  days'  journey  from  Parahuari. 
While  thus  talking  of  his  old  enemy  he  lashed  him- 
self into  a  kind  of  frenzy,  smiting  his  chest  and 
gnashing  his  teeth;  and  finally  seizing  a  spear,  he 
buried  its  point  deep  into  the  clay  floor,  only  to 
wrench  it  out  and  strike  it  into  the  earth  again  and 
again,  to  show  how  he  would  serve  Managa,  and  any 
one  of  Managa's  people  he  might  meet  with — man, 
woman,  or  child.  Then  he  staggered  out  from  the 
door  to  flourish  his  spear;  and  looking  to  the  north- 
west, he  shouted  aloud  to  Managa  to  come  and  slay 


30  GREEN  MANSIONS 

his  people  and  burn  down  his  house,  as  he  had  so 
often  threatened  to  do. 

"  Let  him  come !  Let  Managa  come !  "  I  cried, 
staggering  out  after  him.  "  I  am  your  friend,  your 
brother ;  I  have  no  spear  and  no  arrows,  but  I  have 
this — this !  "  And  here  I  drew  out  and  flourished 
my  revolver.  "  Where  is  Managa  ?  "  I  continued. 
"  Where  are  the  hills  of  Uritay  ?  "  He  pointed  to 
a  star  low  down  in  the  south-west.  "  Then,"  I 
shouted,  "  let  this  bullet  find  Managa,  sitting  by  the 
fire  among  his  people,  and  let  him  fall  and  pour  out 
his  blood  on  the  ground!"  And  with  that  I  dis- 
charged my  pistol  in  the  direction  he  had  pointed  to. 
A  scream  of  terror  burst  out  from  the  women  and 
children,  while  Runi  at  my  side,  in  an  access  of  fierce 
delight  and  admiration,  turned  and  embraced  me. 
It  was  the  first  and  last  embrace  I  ever  suffered  from 
a  naked  male  savage,  and  although  this  did  not  seem 
a  time  for  fastidious  feelings,  to  be  hugged  to  his 
sweltering  body  was  an  unpleasant  experience. 

More  cups  of  casserie  followed  this  outburst ;  and 
at  last,  unable  to  keep  it  up  any  longer,  I  staggered 
to  my  hammock;  but  being  unable  to  get  into  it, 
Runi,  overflowing  with  kindness,  came  to  my  assist- 
ance, whereupon  we  fell  and  rolled  together  on  the 
floor.  Finally,  I  was  raised  by  the  others  and  tum- 
bled into  my  swinging  bed,  and  fell  at  once  into  a 
deep,  dreamless  sleep,  from  which  I  did  not  awake 
until  after  sunrise  on  the  following  morning. 


CHAPTER  II 

IT  is  fortunate  that  casserie  is  manufactured  by 
an  extremely  slow,  laborious  process,  since  the 
women,  who  are  the  drink-makers,  in  the  first  place 
have  to  reduce  the  material  (cassava  bread)  to  a  pulp 
by  means  of  their  own  molars,  after  which  it  is  wa- 
tered down  and  put  away  in  troughs  to  ferment. 
Great  is  the  diligence  of  these  willing-  slaves;  but, 
work  how  they  will,  they  can  only  satisfy  their  lords' 
love  of  a  big  drink  at  long  intervals.  Such  a  func- 
tion as  that  at  which  I  had  assisted  is  therefore  the 
result  of  much  patient  mastication  and  silent  fer- 
mentation— the  delicate  flower  of  a  plant  that  has 
been  a  long  time  growing. 

Having  now  established  myself  as  one  of  the  fam- 
ily, at  the  cost  of  some  disagreeable  sensations  and 
a  pang  or  two  of  self-disgust,  I  resolved  to  let  noth- 
ing further  trouble  me  at  Parahuari,  but  to  live  the 
easy,  careless  life  of  the  idle  man,  joining  in  hunt- 
ing and  fishing  expeditions  when  in  the  mood;  at 
other  times  enjoying  existence  in  my  own  way,  apart 
from  my  fellows,  conversing  with  wild  nature  in  that 
solitary  place. 

Besides  Runi,  there  were,  in  our  little  community, 
31 


32  GREEN  MANSIONS 

two  oldish  men,  his  cousins  I  believe,  who  had  wives 
and  grown-up  children.  Another  family  consisted 
of  Piake,  Runi's  nephew,  his  brother  Kua-ko — about 
whom  there  will  be  much  to  say — and  a  sister 
Oalava.  Piake  had  a  wife  and  two  children ;  Kua-ko 
was  unmarried  and  about  nineteen  or  twenty  years 
old;  Oalava  was  the  youngest  of  the  three.  Last  of 
all,  who  should  perhaps  have  been  first,  was  Runi's 
mother,  called  Cla-cla,  probably  in  imitation  of  the 
cry  of  some  bird,  for  in  these  latitudes  a  person  is 
rarely,  perhaps  never,  called  by  his  or  her  real  name, 
which  is  a  secret  jealously  preserved,  even  from  near 
relations.  I  believe  that  Cla-cla  herself  was  the  only 
living  being  who  knew  the  name  her  parents  had  be- 
stowed on  her  at  birth.  She  was  a  very  old  woman, 
spare  in  figure,  brown  as  old  sun-baked  leather,  her 
face  written  over  with  innumerable  wrinkles,  and 
her  long  coarse  hair  perfectly  white;  yet  she  was 
exceedingly  active,  and  seemed  to  do  more  work  than 
any  other  woman  in  the  community ;  more  than  that, 
when  the  day's  toil  was  over  and  nothing  remained 
for  the  others  to  do,  then  Cla-cla's  night  work  would 
begin ;  and  this  was  to  talk  all  the  others,  or  at  all 
events  all  the  men,  to  sleep.  She  was  like  a  self- 
regulating  machine,  and  punctually  every  evening, 
when  the  door  was  closed,  and  the  night-fire  made  up, 
and  every  man  in  his  hammock,  she  would  set  herself 
going,  telling  the  most  interminable  stories,  until  the 
last  listener  was  fast  asleep:  later  in  the  night,  if 


GREEN  MANSIONS  33 

any  man  woke  with  a  snort  or  grunt,  off  she  would 
go  again,  taking  up  the  thread  of  the  tale  where  she 
had  dropped  it. 

Old  Cla-cla  amused  me  very  much,  by  night  and 
day,  and  I  seldom  tired  of  watching  her  owlish  coun- 
tenance as  she  sat  by  the  fire,  never  allowing  it  to 
sink  low  for  want  of  fuel;  always  studying  the  pot 
when  it  was  on  to  simmer,  and  at  the  same  time  at- 
tending to  the  movements  of  the  others  about  her, 
ready  at  a  moment's  notice  to  give  assistance  or  to 
dart  out  on  a  stray  chicken  or  refractory  child. 

So  much  did  she  amuse  me,  although  without  in- 
tending it,  that  I  thought  it  would  be  only  fair,  in 
my  turn,  to  do  something  for  her  entertainment.  I 
was  engaged  one  day  in  shaping  a  wooden  foil  with 
my  knife,  whistling  and  singing  snatches  of  old  melo- 
dies at  my  work,  when  all  at  once  I  caught  sight  of 
the  ancient  dame  looking  greatly  delighted,  chuck- 
ling internally,  nodding  her  head,  and  keeping  time 
with  her  hands.  Evidently  she  was  able  to  appre- 
ciate a  style  of  music  superior  to  that  of  the  aborig- 
inals, and  forthwith  I  abandoned  my  foils  for  the 
time  and  set  about  the  manufacture  of  a  guitar, 
which  cost  me  much  labour,  and  brought  out  more  in- 
genuity than  I  had  ever  thought  myself  capable  of. 
To  reduce  the  wood  to  the  right  thinness,  then  to 
bend  and  fasten  it  with  wooden  pegs  and  with  gums, 
to  add  the  arm,  frets,  keys,  and  finally  the  catgut 
strings — those  of  another  kind  being  out  of  the  ques- 


34  GREEN  MANSIONS 

tion — kept  me  busy  for  some  days.  When  com- 
pleted it  was  a  rude  instrument,  scarcely  tunable ; 
nevertheless  when  I  smote  the  strings,  playing  lively 
music,  or  accompanied  myself  in  singing,  I  found 
that  it  was  a  great  success,  and  so  was  as  much 
pleased  with  my  own  performance  as  if  I  had  had  the 
most  perfect  guitar  ever  made  in  old  Spain.  I  also 
skipped  about  the  floor,  strum-strumming  at  the  same 
time,  instructing  them  in  the  most  lively  dances  of 
the  whites,  in  which  the  feet  must  be  as  nimble  as  the 
player's  fingers.  It  is  true  that  these  exhibitions 
were  always  witnessed  by  the  adults  with  a  profound 
gravity,  which  would  have  disheartened  a  stranger 
to  their  ways.  They  were  a  set  of  hollow  bronze 
statues  that  looked  at  me,  but  I  knew  that  the  liv- 
ing animals  inside  of  them  were  tickled  at  my  sing- 
ing, strumming,  and  pirouetting.  Cla-cla  was,  how- 
ever, an  exception,  and  encouraged  me  not  infre- 
quently by  emitting  a  sound,  half  cackle  and  half 
screech,  by  way  of  laughter ;  for  she  had  come  to  her 
second  childhood,  or,  at  all  events,  had  dropped  the 
stolid  mask  which  the  young  Guayana  savage,  in  imi- 
tation of  his  elders,  adjusts  to  his  face  at  about  the 
age  of  twelve,  to  wear  it  thereafter  all  his  life  long, 
or  only  to  drop  it  occasionally  when  very  drunk. 
The  youngsters  also  openly  manifested  their  pleas- 
ure, although,  as  a  rule,  they  try  to  restrain  their 
feelings  in  the  presence  of  grown-up  people,  and  with 
them  I  became  a  great  favourite. 


GREEN  MANSIONS  35 

By-and-by  I  returned  to  my  foil-making,  and  gave 
them  fencing  lessons,  and  sometimes  invited  two  or 
three  of  the  biggest  boys  to  attack  me  simultane- 
ously, just  to  show  how  easily  I  could  disarm  and 
kill  them.  This  practice  excited  some  interest  in 
Kua-ko,  who  had  a  little  more  of  curiosity  and  geni- 
ality and  less  of  the  put-on  dignity  of  the  others, 
and  with  him  I  became  most  intimate.  Fencing  with 
Kua-ko  was  highly  amusing :  no  sooner  was  he  in 
position,  foil  in  hand,  than  all  my  instructions  were 
thrown  to  the  winds,  and  he  would  charge  and  attack 
me  in  his  own  barbarous  manner,  with  the  result  that 
I  would  send  his  foil  spinning  a  dozen  yards  away, 
while  he,  struck  motionless,  would  gaze  after  it  in 
open-mouthed  astonishment. 

Three  weeks  had  passed  by  not  unpleasantly  when, 
one  morning,  I  took  it  into  my  head  to  walk  by  my- 
self across  that  somewhat  sterile  savannah  west  of 
the  village  and  stream,  which  ended,  as  I  have  said, 
in  a  long,  low,  stony  ridge.  From  the  village  there 
was  nothing  to  attract  the  eye  in  that  direction ;  but 
I  wished  to  get  a  better  view  of  that  great  solitary 
hill  or  mountain  of  Ytaioa,  and  of  the  cloud-like  sum- 
mits beyond  it  in  the  distance.  From  the  stream 
the  ground  rose  in  a  gradual  slope,  and  the  highest 
part  of  the  ridge  for  which  I  made  was  about  two 
miles  from  the  starting-point — a  parched  brown 
plain,  with  nothing  growing  on  it  but  scattered  tus- 
socks of  sere  hair-like  grass 


36  GREEN  MANSIONS 

When  I  reached  the  top  and  could  see  the  country 
beyond,  I  was  agreeably  disappointed  at  the  discov- 
ery that  the  sterile  ground  extended  only  about  a 
mile  and  a  quarter  on  the  further  side,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  a  forest — a  very  inviting  patch  of  wood- 
land covering  five  or  six  square  miles,  occupying  a 
kind  of  oblong  basin,  extending  from  the  foot  of 
Ytaioa  on  the  north  to  a  low  range  of  rocky  hills  on 
the  south.  From  the  wooded  basin  long  narrow 
strips  of  forest  ran  out  in  various  directions  like  the 
arms  of  an  octopus,  one  pair  embracing  the  slopes  of 
Ytaioa,  another  much  broader  belt  extending  along  a 
valley  which  cut  through  the  ridge  of  hills  on  the 
south  side  at  right  angles,  and  was  lost  to  sight  be- 
yond; far  away  in  the  west  and  south  and  north  dis- 
tant mountains  appeared,  not  in  regular  ranges,  but 
in  groups  or  singly,  or  looking  like  blue  banked-up 
clouds  on  the  horizon. 

Glad  at  having  discovered  the  existence  of  this  for- 
est so  near  home,  and  wondering  why  my  Indian 
friends  had  never  taken  me  to  it,  or  ever  went  out  on 
that  side,  I  set  forth  with  a  light  heart  to  explore  it 
for  myself,  regretting  only  that  I  was  without  a 
proper  weapon  for  procuring  game.  The  walk  from 
the  ridge  over  the  savannah  was  easy,  as  the  barren, 
stony  ground  sloped  downward  the  whole  way.  The 
outer  part  of  the  wood  on  my  side  was  very  open, 
composed  in  most  part  of  dwarf  trees  that  grow  on 
stony  soil,  and  scattered  thorny  bushes  bearing  a  yel- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  37 

low  pea-shaped  blossom.  Presently  I  came  to 
thicker  wood,  where  the  trees  were  much  taller  and 
in  greater  variety ;  and  after  this  came  another  ster- 
ile strip,  like  that  on  the  edge  of  the  wood,  where 
stone  cropped  out  from  the  ground  and  nothing  grew 
except  the  yellow-flowered  thorn  bushes.  Passing 
this  sterile  ribbon,  which  seemed  to  extend  to  a  con- 
siderable distance  north  and  south,  and  was  fifty  to 
a  hundred  yards  wide,  the  forest  again  became  dense 
and  the  trees  large,  with  much  undergrowth  in  places 
obstructing  the  view  and  making  progress  difficult. 

I  spent  several  hours  in  this  wild  paradise,  which 
was  so  much  more  delightful  than  the  extensive 
gloomier  forests  I  had  so  often  penetrated  in  Gua- 
yana:  for  here,  if  the  trees  did  not  attain  to  such 
majestic  proportions,  the  variety  of  vegetable  forms 
was  even  greater;  as  far  as  I  went  it  was  nowhere 
dark  under  the  trees,  and  the  number  of  lovely  para- 
sites everywhere  illustrated  the  kindly  influence  of 
light  and  air.  Even  where  the  trees  were  largest  the 
sunshine  penetrated,  subdued  by  the  foliage  to  ex- 
quisite greenish-golden  tints,  filling  the  wide  lower 
spaces  with  tender  half-lights,  and  faint  blue-and- 
grey  shadows.  Lying  on  my  back  and  gazing  up,  I 
felt  reluctant  to  rise  and  renew  my  ramble.  For 
what  a  roof  was  that  above  my  head!  Roof  I  call 
it,  just  as  the  poets  in  their  poverty  sometimes  de- 
scribe the  infinite  ethereal  sky  by  that  word;  but  it 
was  no  more  roof-like  and  hindering  to  the  soaring 


38  GREEN  MANSIONS 

spirit  than  the  higher  clouds  that  float  in  changing 
forms  and  tints,  and  like  the  foliage  chasten  the  in- 
tolerable noonday  beams.  How  far  above  me  seemed 
that  leafy  cloudland  into  which  I  gazed  I  Nature, 
we  know,  first  taught  the  architect  to  produce  by 
long  colonnades  the  illusion  of  distance;  but  the 
light-excluding  roof  prevents  him  from  getting  the 
same  effect  above.  Here  Nature  is  unapproachable 
with  her  green,  airy  canopy,  a  sun-impregnated  cloud 
— cloud  above  cloud ;  and  though  the  highest  may  be 
unreached  by  the  eye,  the  beams  yet  filter  through, 
illuming  the  wide  spaces  beneath — chamber  succeeded 
by  chamber,  each  with  its  own  special  lights  and 
shadows.  Far  above  me,  but  not  nearly  so  far  as  it 
seemed,  the  tender  gloom  of  one  such  chamber  or 
space  is  traversed  now  by  a  golden  shaft  of  light  fall- 
ing through  some  break  in  the  upper  foliage,  giving 
a  strange  glory  to  everything  it  touches — projecting 
leaves,  and  beard-like  tuft  of  moss,  and  snaky  bush- 
rope.  And  in  the  most  open  part  of  that  most  open 
space,  suspended  on  nothing  to  the  eye,  the  shaft 
reveals  a  tangle  of  shining  silver  threads — the  web  of 
some  large  tree-spider.  These  seemingly  distant,  yet 
distinctly  visible  threads,  serve  to  remind  me  that 
the  human  artist  is  only  able  to  get  his  horizontal 
distance  by  a  monotonous  reduplication  of  pillar  and 
arch,  placed  at  regular  intervals,  and  that  the  least 
departure  from  this  order  would  destroy  the  effect. 
But   Nature   produces  her  effects   at  random,   and 


GREEN  MANSIONS  39 

seems  only  to  increase  the  beautiful  illusion  by  that 
infinite  variety  of  decoration  in  which  she  revels, 
binding  tree  to  tree  in  a  tangle  of  anaconda-like 
lianas,  and  dwindling  down  from  these  huge  cables 
to  airy  webs  and  hair-like  fibres  that  vibrate  to  the 
wind  of  the  passing  insect's  wing. 

Thus  in  idleness,  with  such  thoughts  for  company, 
I  spent  my  time,  glad  that  no  human  being,  savage 
or  civilised,  was  with  me.  It  was  better  to  be  alone 
to  listen  to  the  monkeys  that  chattered  without  of- 
fending; to  watch  them  occupied  with  the  unserious 
business  of  their  lives.  With  that  luxuriant  tropical 
nature,  its  green  clouds  and  illusive  aerial  spaces, 
full  of  mystery,  they  harmonised  well  in  language, 
appearance  and  motions; — mountebank  angels,  liv- 
ing their  fantastic  lives  far  above  earth  in  a  half-way 
heaven  of  their  own. 

I  saw  more  monkeys  on  that  morning  than  I  usu- 
ally saw  in  the  course  of  a  week's  rambling.  And 
other  animals  were  seen;  I  particularly  remember 
two  accouries  I  startled,  that  after  rushing  away  a 
few  yards  stopped  and  stood  peering  back  at  me  as 
if  not  knowing  whether  to  regard  me  as  friend  or 
enemy.  Birds,  too,  were  strangely  abundant;  and 
altogether  this  struck  me  as  being  the  richest  hunt- 
ing-ground I  had  seen,  and  it  astonished  me  to  think 
that  the  Indians  of  the  village  did  not  appear  to 
visit  it. 

On  my  return  in  the  afternoon  I  gave  an  enthusi- 


40  GREEN  MANSIONS 

astic  account  of  my  day's  ramble,  speaking  not  of 
the  things  that  had  moved  my  soul,  but  only  to  those 
which  move  the  Guayana  Indian's  soul — the  animal 
food  he  craves,  and  which,  one  would  imagine,  Nature 
would  prefer  him  to  do  without,  so  hard  he  finds  it 
to  wrest  a  sufficiency  from  her.  To  my  surprise 
they  shook  their  heads  and  looked  troubled  at  what  I 
said ;  and  finally,  my  host  informed  me  that  the  wood 
I  had  been  in  was  a  dangerous  place;  that  if  they 
went  there  to  hunt  a  great  injury  would  be  done  to 
them;  and  he  finished  by  advising  me  not  to  visit  it 
again. 

I  began  to  understand  from  their  looks  and  the  old 
man's  vague  words  that  their  fear  of  the  wood  was 
superstitious.  If  dangerous  creatures  had  existed 
there — tigers,  or  camoodis,  or  solitary  murderous 
savages — they  would  have  said  so;  but  when  I 
pressed  them  with  questions  they  could  only  repeat 
that  "  something  bad  "  existed  in  the  place,  that  ani- 
mals were  abundant  there  because  no  Indian  who 
valued  his  life  dared  venture  into  it.  I  replied  that 
unless  they  gave  me  some  more  definite  information 
I  should  certainly  go  again,  and  put  myself  in  the 
way  of  the  danger  they  feared. 

My  reckless  courage,  as  they  considered  it,  sur- 
prised them;  but  they  had  already  begun  to  find  out 
that  their  superstitions  had  no  effect  on  me,  that  I 
listened  to  them  as  to  stories  invented  to  amuse  a 


GREEN  MANSIONS  41 

child,  and  for  the  moment  they  made  no  further  at- 
tempt to  dissuade  me. 

Next  day  I  returned  to  the  forest  of  evil  report, 
which  had  now  a  new  and  even  greater  charm — the 
fascination  of  the  unknown  and  the  mysterious ;  still, 
the  warning  I  had  received  made  me  distrustful  and 
cautious  at  first,  for  I  could  not  help  thinking  about 
it.  When  we  consider  how  much  of  their  life  is 
passed  in  the  woods,  which  become  as  familiar  to  them 
as  the  streets  of  our  native  town  to  us,  it  seems  al- 
most incredible  that  these  savages  have  a  supersti- 
tious fear  of  all  forests,  fearing  them  as  much,  even 
in  the  bright  light  of  day,  as  a  nervous  child  with 
memory  filled  with  ghost-stories  fears  a  dark  room. 
But,  like  the  child  in  the  dark  room,  they  fear  the 
forest  only  when  alone  in  it,  and  for  this  reason  al- 
ways hunt  in  couples  or  parties.  What,  then,  pre- 
vented them  from  visiting  this  particular  wood,  which 
offered  so  tempting  a  harvest?  The  question  trou- 
bled me  not  a  little;  at  the  same  time  I  was  ashamed 
of  the  feeling,  and  fought  against  it;  and  in  the 
end  I  made  my  way  to  the  same  sequestered  spot 
where  I  had  rested  so  long  on  my  previous  visit. 

In  this  place  I  witnessed  a  new  thing,  and  had  a 
strange  experience.  Sitting  on  the  ground  in  the 
shade  of  a  large  tree,  I  began  to  hear  a  confused 
noise  as  of  a  coming  tempest  of  wind  mixed  with 
shrill  calls  and  cries.     Nearer  and  nearer  it  came, 


42  GREEN  MANSIONS 

and  at  last  a  multitude  of  birds  of  many  kinds,  but 
mostly  small,  appeared  in  sight  swarming  through 
the  trees,  some  running  on  the  trunks  and  larger 
branches,  others  flitting  through  the  foliage,  and 
many  keeping  on  the  wing,  now  hovering  and  now 
darting  this  way  or  that.  They  were  all  busily 
searching  for  and  pursuing  the  insects,  moving  on  at 
the  same  time,  and  in  a  very  few  minutes  they  had 
finished  examining  the  trees  near  me,  and  were  gone ; 
but  not  satisfied  with  what  I  had  witnessed,  I  jumped 
up  and  rushed  after  the  flock  to  keep  it  in  sight.  All 
my  caution  and  all  recollection  of  what  the  Indians 
had  said  was  now  forgot,  so  great  was  my  interest 
in  this  bird-army ;  but  as  they  moved  on  without 
pause  they  quickly  left  me  behind,  and  presently  my 
career  was  stopped  by  an  impenetrable  tangle  of 
bushes,  vines,  and  roots  of  large  trees  extending  like 
huge  cables  along  the  ground.  In  the  midst  of  this 
leafy  labyrinth  I  sat  down  on  a  projecting  root  to 
cool  my  blood  before  attempting  to  make  my  way 
back  to  my  former  position.  After  that  tempest  of 
motion  and  confused  noises  the  silence  of  the  forest 
seemed  very  profound;  but  before  I  had  been  resting 
many  moments  it  was  broken  by  a  low  strain  of  ex- 
quisite bird-melody,  wonderfully  pure  and  expressive, 
unlike  any  musical  sound  I  had  ever  heard  before. 
It  seemed  to  issue  from  a  thick  cluster  of  broad 
leaves  of  a  creeper  only  a  few  yards  from  where  I 
sat.     With  my  eyes  fixed  on  this  green  hiding-place 


GREEN  MANSIONS  43 

I  waited  with  suspended  breath  for  its  repetition, 
wondering  whether  any  civilised  being  had  ever  lis- 
tened to  such  a  strain  before.  Surely  not,  I  thought, 
else  the  fame  of  so  divine  a  melody  would  long  ago 
have  been  noised  abroad.  I  thought  of  the  rialejo, 
the  celebrated  organ-bird  or  flute-bird,  and  of  the 
various  ways  in  which  hearers  are  affected  by  it. 
To  some  its  warbling  is  like  the  sound  of  a  beautiful 
mysterious  instrument,  while  to  others  it  seems  like 
the  singing  of  a  blithe-hearted  child  with  a  highly 
melodious  voice.  I  had  often  heard  and  listened  with 
delight  to  the  singing  of  the  rialejo  in  the  Guayana 
forests,  but  this  song,  or  musical  phrase,  was  utterly 
unlike  it  in  character.  It  was  pure,  more  expressive, 
softer — so  low  that  at  a  distance  of  forty  yards  I 
could  hardly  have  heard  it.  But  its  greatest  charm 
was  its  resemblance  to  the  human  voice — a  voice 
purified  and  brightened  to  something  almost  angelic. 
Imagine,  then,  my  impatience  as  I  sat  there  straining 
my  sense,  my  deep  disappointment  when  it  was  not 
repeated!  I  rose  at  length  very  reluctantly  and 
slowly  began  making  my  way  back;  but  when  I  had 
progressed  about  thirty  yards,  again  the  sweet  voice 
sounded  just  behind  me,  and  turning  quickly  I  stood 
still  and  waited.  The  same  voice,  but  not  the  same 
song — not  the  same  phrase ;  the  notes  were  different, 
more  varied  and  rapidly  enunciated,  as  if  the  singer 
had  been  more  excited.  The  blood  rushed  to  my 
heart  as  I  listened ;  my  nerves  tingled  with  a  strange 


41  GREEN  MANSIONS 

new  delight,  the  rapture  produced  bj  such  music 
heightened  by  a  sense  of  mystery.  Before  many  mo- 
ments I  heard  it  again,  not  rapid  now,  but  a  soft 
warbling,  lower  than  at  first,  infinitely  sweet  and  ten- 
der, sinking  to  lisping  sounds  that  soon  ceased  to  be 
audible;  the  whole  having  lasted  as  long  as  it  would 
take  me  to  repeat  a  sentence  of  a  dozen  words.  This 
seemed  the  singer's  farewell  to  me,  for  I  waited  and 
listened  in  vain  to  hear  it  repeated ;  and  after  get- 
ting back  to  the  starting-point  I  sat  for  upwards  of 
an  hour,  still  hoping  to  hear  it  once  more ! 

The  westering  sun  at  length  compelled  me  to  quit 
the  wood,  but  not  before  I  had  resolved  to  return  the 
next  morning  and  seek  for  the  spot  where  I  had  met 
with  so  enchanting  an  experience.  After  crossing 
the  sterile  belt  I  have  mentioned  within  the  wood,  and 
just  before  I  came  to  the  open  outer  edge  where  the 
stunted  trees  and  bushes  die  away  on  the  border  of 
the  savannah,  what  was  my  delight  and  astonishment 
at  hearing  the  mysterious  melody  once  more!  It 
seemed  to  issue  from  a  clump  of  bushes  close  by ; 
but  by  this  time  I  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
there  was  a  ventriloquism  in  this  woodland  voice 
which  made  it  impossible  for  me  to  determine  its  exact 
direction.  Of  one  thing  I  was,  however,  now  quite 
convinced,  and  that  was  that  the  singer  had  been  fol- 
lowing me  all  the  time.  Again  and  again  as  I  stood 
there  listening  it  sounded,  now  so  faint  and  appar- 
ently far  off  as  to  be  scarcely  audible ;  then  all  at 


GREEN  MANSIONS  45 

once  it  would  ring  out  bright  and  clear  within  a  few 
yards  of  me,  as  if  the  shy  little  thing  had  suddenly 
grown  bold;  but,  far  or  near,  the  vocalist  remained 
invisible,  and  at  length  the  tantalising  melody  ceased 
altogether. 


CHAPTER  III 

I  WAS  not  disappointed  on  my  next  visit  to  the 
forest,  nor  on  several  succeeding  visits ;  and  this 
seemed  to  show  that  if  I  was  right  in  believing  that 
these  strange,  melodious  utterances  proceeded  from 
one  individual,  then  the  bird  or  being,  although  still 
refusing  to  show  itself,  was  always  on  the  watch  for 
my  appearance,  and  followed  me  wherever  I  went. 
This  thought  only  served  to  increase  my  curiosity ; 
I  was  constantly  pondering  over  the  subject,  and  at 
last  concluded  that  it  would  be  best  to  induce  one 
of  the  Indians  to  go  with  me  to  the  wood  on  the 
chance  of  his  being  able  to  explain  the  mystery. 

One  of  the  treasures  I  had  managed  to  preserve  in 
my  sojourn  with  these  children  of  nature,  who  were 
always  anxious  to  become  possessors  of  my  belong- 
ings, was  a  small  prettily  fashioned  metal  match-box, 
opening  with  a  spring.  Remembering  that  Kua-ko, 
among  others,  had  looked  at  this  trifle  with  covetous 
eyes — the  covetous  way  in  which  they  all  looked  at 
it  had  given  it  a  fictitious  value  in  my  own — I  tried 
to  bribe  him  with  the  offer  of  it  to  accompany  me  to 
my  favourite  haunt.  The  brave  young  hunter  re- 
fused again  and  again ;  but  on  each  occasion  he  of* 

46 


GREEN  MANSIONS  Vt 

fered  to  perform  some  other  service  or  to  give  me 
something  in  exchange  for  the  box.  At  last  I  told 
him  that  I  would  give  it  to  the  first  person  who  should 
accompany  me,  and  fearing  that  someone  would  be 
found  valiant  enough  to  win  the  prize,  he  at  length 
plucked  up  a  spirit,  and  on  the  next  day,  seeing  me 
going  out  for  a  walk,  he  all  at  once  offered  to  go  with 
me.  He  cunningly  tried  to  get  the  box  before  start- 
ing— his  cunning,  poor  youth !  was  not  very  deep. 
I  told  him  that  the  forest  we  were  about  to  visit 
abounded  with  plants  and  birds  unlike  any  I  had  seen 
elsewhere,  that  I  wished  to  learn  their  names,  and 
everything  about  them,  and  that  when  I  had  got  the 
required  information  the  box  would  be  his — not 
sooner.  Finally  we  started,  he,  as  usual,  armed  with 
his  zabatana,  with  which,  I  imagined,  he  would  pro- 
cure more  game  than  usually  fell  to  his  little  poisoned 
arrows.  When  we  reached  the  wood  I  could  see  that 
he  was  ill  at  ease:  nothing  would  persuade  him  to  go 
into  the  deeper  parts ;  and  even  where  it  was  very 
open  and  light  he  was  constantly  gazing  into  bushes 
and  shadowy  places,  as  if  expecting  to  see  some 
frightful  creature  lying  in  wait  for  him.  This  be- 
haviour might  have  had  a  disquieting  effect  on  me 
had  I  not  been  thoroughly  convinced  that  his  fears 
were  purely  superstitious,  and  that  there  could  be  no 
dangerous  animal  in  a  spot  I  was  accustomed  to  walk 
in  every  day.  My  plan  was  to  ramble  about  with 
an  unconcerned  air,  occasionally  pointing  out  an  un- 


48  GREEN  MANSIONS 

common  tree  or  shrub  or  vine,  or  calling  his  atten- 
tion to  a  distant  bird  cry  and  asking  the  bird's  name, 
in  the  hope  that  the  mysterious  voice  would  make 
itself  heard,  and  that  he  would  be  able  to  give  me 
some  explanation  of  it.  But  for  upwards  of  two 
hours  we  moved  about,  hearing  nothing  except  the 
usual  bird-voices,  and  during  all  that  time  he  never 
stirred  a  yard  from  my  side  nor  made  an  attempt  to 
capture  anything.  At  length  we  sat  down  under  a 
tree,  in  an  open  spot  close  to  the  border  of  the  wood. 
He  sat  down  very  reluctantly,  and  seemed  more  trou- 
bled in  his  mind  than  ever,  keeping  his  eyes  continu- 
ally roving  about,  while  he  listened  intently  to  every 
sound.  The  sounds  were  not  few,  owing  to  the  abun- 
dance of  animal  and  especially  of  bird  life  in  this 
favoured  spot.  I  began  to  question  my  companion 
as  to  some  of  the  cries  we  heard.  There  were  notes 
and  cries  familiar  to  me  as  the  crowing  of  the  cock — 
parrot  screams  and  yelping  of  toucans,  the  distant 
wailing  calls  of  maam  and  duraquara ;  and  shrill 
laughter-like  notes  of  the  large  tree-climber  as  it 
passed  from  tree  to  tree ;  the  quick  whistle  of  cotin- 
gas ;  and  strange  throbbing  and  thrilling  sounds,  as 
of  pigmies  beating  on  metallic  drums,  of  the  skulking 
pitta-thrushes ;  and  with  these  mingled  other  notes 
less  well  known.  One  came  from  the  treetops,  where 
it  was  perpetually  wandering  amid  the  foliage — a  low 
note,  repeated  at  intervals  of  a  few  seconds,  so  thin 
and  mournful  and  full  of  mystery,  that  I  half  ex- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  49 

pected  to  hear  that  it  proceeded  from  the  restless 
ghost  of  some  dead  bird.  But  no ;  he  only  said  it 
was  uttered  by  a  "  little  bird  " — too  little  presum- 
ably to  have  a  name.  From  the  foliage  of  a  neigh- 
bouring tree  came  a  few  tinkling  chirps,  as  of  a  small 
mandolin,  two  or  three  strings  of  which  had  been 
carelessly  struck  by  the  player.  He  said  that  it 
came  from  a  small  green  frog  that  lived  in  trees ; 
and  in  this  way  my  rude  Indian — vexed  perhaps  at 
being  asked  such  trivial  questions — brushed  away  the 
pretty  fantasies  my  mind  had  woven  in  the  woodland 
solitude.  For  I  often  listened  to  this  tinkling  music, 
and  it  had  suggested  the  idea  that  the  place  was  fre- 
quented by  a  tribe  of  fairy-like  troubadour  monkeys, 
and  that  if  I  could  only  be  quick-sighted  enough  I 
might  one  day  be  able  to  detect  the  minstrel  sitting, 
in  a  green  tunic  perhaps,  cross-legged  on  some  high, 
swaying  bough,  carelessly  touching  his  mandolin  sus- 
pended from  his  neck  by  a  yellow  ribbon. 

By-and-by  a  bird  came  with  low,  swift  flight,  its 
great  tail  spread  open  fan-wise,  and  perched  itself  on 
an  exposed  bough  not  thirty  yards  from  us.  It  was 
all  of  a  chestnut-red  colour,  long-bodied,  in  size  like 
a  big  pigeon:  its  actions  showed  that  its  curiosity 
had  been  greatly  excited,  for  it  jerked  from  side  to 
side,  eyeing  us  first  with  one  eye,  then  the  other,  while 
its  long  tail  rose  and  fell  in  a  measured  way. 

"  Look,  Kua-ko,"  I  said  in  a  whisper,  "  there  is  a 
bird  for  you  to  kill." 


50  GREEN  MANSIONS 

But  he  only  shook  his  head,  still  watchful. 

"  Give  me  the  blow-pipe,  then,"  I  said,  with  a 
laugh,  putting  out  my  hand  to  take  it.  But  he  re- 
fused to  let  me  take  it,  knowing  that  it  would  only  be 
an  arrow  wasted  if  I  attempted  to  shoot  anything. 

As  I  persisted  in  telling  him  to  kill  the  bird,  he  at 
last  bent  his  lips  near  me  and  said  in  a  half-whisper, 
as  if  fearful  of  being  overheard,  "  I  can  kill  nothing 
here.  If  I  shot  at  the  bird  the  daughter  of  the  Didi 
would  catch  the  dart  in  her  hand  and  throw  it  back 
and  hit  me  here,"  touching  his  breast  just  over  his 
heart. 

I  laughed  again,  saying  to  myself,  with  some 
amusement,  that  Kua-ko  was  not  such  a  bad  compan- 
ion after  all — that  he  was  not  without  imagination. 
But  in  spite  of  my  laughter  his  words  roused  my  in- 
terest, and  suggested  the  idea  that  the  voice  I  was 
curious  about  had  been  heard  by  the  Indians,  and 
was  as  great  a  mystery  to  them  as  to  me ;  since  not 
being  like  that  of  any  creature  known  to  them,  it 
would  be  attributed  by  their  superstitious  minds  to 
one  of  the  numerous  demons  or  semi-human  monsters 
inhabiting  every  forest,  stream,  and  mountain ;  and 
fear  of  it  would  drive  them  from  the  wood.  In  this 
case,  judging  from  my  companion's  words,  they  had 
varied  the  form  of  the  superstition  somewhat,  in- 
venting a  daughter  of  a  water-spirit  to  be  afraid  of. 
My  thought  was  that  if  their  keen,  practised  eyes 
had  never  been  able  to  see  this  flitting  woodland  crea- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  51 

ture  with  a  musical  soul,  it  was  not  likely  that  I 
would  succeed  in  ray  quest. 

I  began  to  question  him,  but  he  now  appeared  less 
inclined  to  talk  and  more  frightened  than  ever,  and 
each  time  I  attempted  to  speak  he  imposed  silence, 
with  a  quick  gesture  of  alarm,  while  he  continued  to 
stare  about  him  with  dilated  eyes.  All  at  once  he 
sprang  to  his  feet  as  if  overcome  with  terror,  and 
started  running  at  full  speed.  His  fear  infected  me, 
and,  springing  up,  I  followed  as  fast  as  I  could,  but 
he  was  far  ahead  of  me,  running  for  dear  life ;  and 
before  I  had  gone  forty  yards  my  feet  were  caught 
in  a  creeper  trailing  along  the  surface,  and  I  meas- 
ured my  length  on  the  ground.  The  sudden,  violent 
shock  almost  took  away  my  senses  for  a  moment,  but 
when  I  jumped  up  and  stared  round  to  see  no  un- 
speakable monster — Curupita  or  other — rushing  on 
to  slay  and  devour  me  there  and  then,  I  began  to 
feel  ashamed  of  my  cowardice;  and  in  the  end  I 
turned  and  walked  back  to  the  spot  I  had  just  quit- 
ted and  sat  down  once  more.  I  even  tried  to  hum  a 
tune,  just  to  prove  to  myself  that  I  had  completely 
recovered  from  the  panic  caught  from  the  miserable 
Indian;  but  it  is  never  possible  in  such  cases  to  get 
back  one's  serenity  immediately,  and  a  vague  suspi- 
cion continued  to  trouble  me  for  a  time.  After  sit- 
ting there  for  half  an  hour  or  so,  listening  to  distant 
bird  sounds,  I  began  to  recover  my  old  confidence, 
and  even  to  feel  inclined  to  penetrate  further  into 


52  GREEN  MANSIONS 

the  wood.  All  at  once,  making  me  almost  jump,  so 
sudden  it  was,  so  much  nearer  and  louder  than  I  had 
ever  heard  it  before,  the  mysterious  melody  began. 
Unmistakably  it  was  uttered  by  the  same  being  heard 
on  former  occasions ;  but  to-day  it  was  different  in 
character.  The  utterance  was  far  more  rapid,  with 
fewer  silent  intervals,  and  it  had  none  of  the  usual 
tenderness  in  it,  nor  ever  once  sunk  to  that  low,  whis- 
per-like talking,  which  had  seemed  to  me  as  if  the 
spirit  of  the  wind  had  breathed  its  low  sighs  in  syl- 
lables and  speech.  Now  it  was  not  only  loud,  rapid, 
and  continuous,  but,  while  still  musical,  there  was  an 
incisiveness  in  it,  a  sharp  ring  as  of  resentment,  which 
made  it  strike  painfully  on  the  sense. 

The  impression  of  an  intelligent  unhuman  being 
addressing  me  in  anger  took  so  firm  a  hold  on  my 
mind  that  the  old  fear  returned,  and,  rising,  I  began 
to  walk  rapidly  away,  intending  to  escape  from  the 
wood.  The  voice  continued  violently  rating  me,  as 
it  seemed  to  my  mind,  moving  with  me,  which  caused 
me  to  accelerate  my  steps ;  and  very  soon  I  would 
have  broken  into  a  run,  when  its  character  began  to 
change  again.  There  were  pauses  now,  intervals  of 
silence,  long  or  short,  and  after  each  one  the  voice 
came  to  my  ear  with  a  more  subdued  and  dulcet, 
sound — more  of  that  melting,  flute-like  quality  it 
had  possessed  at  other  times ;  and  this  softness  of 
tone,  coupled  with  the  talking-like  form  of  utterance, 
gave  me  the  idea  of  a  being  no  longer  incensed,  ad- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  53 

dressing  me  now  in  a  peaceable  spirit,  reasoning 
away  my  unworthy  tremors,  and  imploring  me  to 
remain  with  it  in  the  wood.  Strange  as  this  voice 
without  a  body  was,  and  always  productive  of  a 
slightly  uncomfortable  feeling  on  account  of  its  mys- 
tery, it  seemed  impossible  to  doubt  that  it  came  to 
me  now  in  a  spirit  of  pure  friendliness ;  and  when  I 
had  recovered  my  composure  I  found  a  new  delight 
in  listening  to  it — all  the  greater  because  of  the  fear 
so  lately  experienced,  and  of  its  seeming  intelligence. 
For  the  third  time  I  reseated  myself  on  the  same 
spot,  and  at  intervals  the  voice  talked  to  me  there 
for  some  time,  and  to  my  fancy  expressed  satisfac- 
tion and  pleasure  at  my  presence.  But  later,  with- 
out losing  its  friendly  tone,  it  changed  again.  It 
seemed  to  move  away  and  to  be  thrown  back  from  a 
considerable  distance;  and,  at  long  intervals,  it 
would  approach  me  again  with  a  new  sound,  which 
I  began  to  interpret  as  of  command,  or  entreaty. 
Was  it,  I  asked  myself,  inviting  me  to  follow?  And 
if  I  obeyed,  to  what  delightful  discoveries  or  fright- 
ful dangers  might  it  lead?  My  curiosity,  together 
with  the  belief  that  the  being — I  called  it  being,  not 
bird,  now — was  friendly  to  me,  overcame  all  timidity, 
and  I  rose  and  walked  at  random  towards  the  in- 
terior of  the  wood.  Very  soon  I  had  no  doubt  left 
that  the  being  had  desired  me  to  follow ;  for  there  was 
now  a  new  note  of  gladness  in  its  voice,  and  it  contin- 
ued near  me  as  I  walked,  at  intervals  approaching 


54.  GREEN  MANSIONS 

me  so  closely  as  to  set  me  staring  into  the  surround- 
ing shadowy  places  like  poor  scared  Kua-ko. 

On  this  occasion,  too,  I  began  to  have  a  new  fancy, 
for  fancy  or  illusion  I  was  determined  to  regard 
it,  that  some  swift-footed  being  was  treading  the 
ground  near  me ;  that  I  occasionally  caught  the  faint 
rustle  of  a  light  footstep,  and  detected  a  motion  in 
leaves  and  fronds  and  thread-like  stems  of  creepers 
hanging  near  the  surface,  as  if  some  passing  body 
had  touched  and  made  them  tremble;  and  once  or 
twice  that  I  even  had  a  glimpse  of  a  grey,  misty  ob- 
ject moving  at  no  great  distance  in  the  deeper  shad- 
ows. 

Led  by  this  wandering  tricksy  being,  I  came  to  a 
spot  where  the  trees  were  very  large  and  the  damp 
dark  ground  almost  free  from  undergrowth ;  and 
here  the  voice  ceased  to  be  heard.  After  patiently 
waiting  and  listening  for  some  time  I  began  to  look 
about  me  with  a  slight  feeling  of  apprehension.  It 
was  still  about  two  hours  before  sunset;  only  in  this 
place  the  shade  of  the  vast  trees  made  a  perpetual 
twilight:  moreover,  it  was  strangely  silent  here,  the 
few  bird  cries  that  reached  me  coming  from  a  long 
distance.  I  had  flattered  myself  that  the  voice  had 
become  to  some  extent  intelligible  to  me ;  its  outburst 
of  anger  caused  no  doubt  by  my  cowardly  flight  after 
the  Indian;  then  its  recovered  friendliness  which  had 
induced  me  to  return ;  and,  finally,  its  desire  to  be 
followed.     Now  that  it  had  led  me  to  this  place  of 


GREEN  MANSIONS  55 

shadow  and  profound  silence,  and  had  ceased  to 
speak  and  to  lead,  I  could  not  help  thinking  that  this 
was  my  goal,  that  I  had  been  brought  to  this  spot 
with  a  purpose,  that  in  this  wild  and  solitary  retreat 
some  tremendous  adventure  was  about  to  befall  me. 

As  the  silence  continued  unbroken  there  was  time 
to  dwell  on  this  thought.  I  gazed  before  me  and 
listened  intently,  scarcely  breathing,  until  the  sus- 
pense became  painful — too  painful  at  last,  and  I 
turned  and  took  a  step  with  the  idea  of  going  back 
to  the  border  of  the  wood,  when  close  by,  clear  as  a 
silver  bell,  sounded  the  voice  once  more,  but  only  for 
a  moment — two  or  three  syllables  in  response  to  my 
movement,  then  it  was  silent  again. 

Once  more  I  was  standing  still,  as  if  in  obedience 
to  a  command,  in  the  same  state  of  suspense;  and 
whether  the  change  was  real  or  only  imagined  I  know 
not,  but  the  silence  every  minute  grew  more  profound 
and  the  gloom  deeper.  Imaginary  terrors  began  to 
assail  me.  Ancient  fables  of  men  allured  by  beauti- 
ful forms  and  melodious  voices  to  destruction  all  at 
once  acquired  a  fearful  significance.  I  recalled  some 
of  the  Indian  beliefs,  especially  that  of  the  mis- 
shapen, man-devouring  monster  who  is  said  to  be- 
guile his  victims  into  the  dark  forest  by  mimicking 
the  human  voice — the  voice  sometimes  of  a  woman  in 
distress — or  by  singing  some  strange  and  beautiful 
melody.  I  grew  almost  afraid  to  look  round  lest  I 
should  catch  sight  of  him  stealing  towards  me  on  his 


56  GREEN  MANSIONS 

huge  feet  with  toes  pointing  backwards,  his  mouth 
snarling  horribly  to  display  his  great  green  fangs. 
It  was  distressing  to  have  such  fancies  in  this  wild, 
solitary  spot — hateful  to  feel  their  power  over  me 
when  I  knew  that  they  were  nothing  but  fancies  and 
creations  of  the  savage  mind.  But  if  these  super- 
natural beings  had  no  existence,  there  were  other 
monsters,  only  too  real,  in  these  woods  which  it  would 
be  dreadful  to  encounter  alone  and  unarmed,  since 
against  such  adversaries  a  revolver  would  be  as  in- 
effectual as  a  popgun.  Some  huge  camoodi,  able  to 
crush  my  bones  like  brittle  twigs  in  its  constricting 
coils,  might  lurk  in  these  shadows,  and  approach  me 
stealthily,  unseen  in  its  dark  colour  on  the  dark 
ground.  Or  some  jaguar  or  black  tiger  might  steal 
towards  me,  masked  by  a  bush  or  tree-trunk,  to 
spring  upon  me  unawares.  Or  worse  still,  this  way 
might  suddenly  come  a  pack  of  those  swift-footed, 
unspeakably  terrible  hunting-leopards,  from  which 
every  living  thing  in  the  forest  flies  with  shrieks  of 
consternation  or  else  falls  paralysed  in  their  path 
to  be  instantly  torn  to  pieces  and  devoured. 

A  slight  rustling  sound  in  the  foliage  above  me 
made  me  start  and  cast  up  my  eyes.  High  up, 
where  a  pale  gleam  of  tempered  sunlight  fell  through 
the  leaves,  a  grotesque  human-like  face,  black  as  eb- 
ony and  adorned  with  a  great  red  beard,  appeared 
staring  down  upon  me.  In  another  moment  it  was 
gone.     It   was   only   a   large    araguato,    or   howling 


GREEN  MANSIONS  5T 

monkey,  but  I  was  so  unnerved  that  I  could  not  get 
rid  of  the  idea  that  it  was  something  more  than  a 
monkey.  Once  more  I  moved,  and  again,  the  instant 
I  moved  my  foot,  clear,  and  keen,  and  imperative, 
sounded  the  voice !  It  was  no  longer  possible  to 
doubt  its  meaning.  It  commanded  me  to  stand  still 
— to  wait — to  watch — to  listen  !  Had  it  cried 
"  Listen !  Do  not  move !  "  I  could  not  have  under- 
stood it  better.  Trying  as  the  suspense  was,  I  now 
felt  powerless  to  escape.  Something  very  terrible, 
I  felt  convinced,  was  about  to  happen,  either  to  de- 
stroy or  to  release  me  from  the  spell  that  held  me. 

And  while  I  stood  thus  rooted  to  the  ground,  the 
sweat  standing  in  large  drops  on  my  forehead,  all  at 
once  close  to  me  sounded  a  cry,  fine  and  clear  at  first, 
and  rising  at  the  end  to  a  shriek  so  loud,  piercing, 
and  unearthly  in  character  that  the  blood  seemed  to 
freeze  in  my  veins,  and  a  despairing  cry  to  heaven 
escaped  my  lips ;  then,  before  that  long  shriek  ex- 
pired, a  mighty  chorus  of  thunderous  voices  burst 
forth  around  me ;  and  in  this  awful  tempest  of  sound 
I  trembled  like  a  leaf;  and  the  leaves  on  the  trees 
were  agitated  as  if  by  a  high  wind,  and  the  earth 
itself  seemed  to  shake  beneath  my  feet.  Indescrib- 
ably horrible  were  my  sensations  at  that  moment ;  I 
was  deafened,  and  would  possibly  have  been  mad- 
dened had  I  not,  as  by  a  miracle,  chanced  to  see  a 
large  araguato  on  a  branch  overhead,  roaring  with 
open  mouth  and  inflated  throat  and  chest. 


58  GREEN  MANSIONS 

It  was  simply  a  concert  of  howling  monkeys  which 
had  so  terrified  me !  But  my  extreme  fear  was  not 
strange  in  the  circumstances ;  since  everything  that 
had  led  up  to  the  display,  the  gloom  and  silence,  the 
period  of  suspense  and  my  heated  imagination,  had 
raised  my  mind  to  the  highest  degree  of  excitement 
and  expectancy.  I  had  rightly  conjectured,  no 
doubt,  that  my  unseen  guide  had  led  me  to  that  spot 
for  a  purpose;  and  the  purpose  had  been  to  set  me 
in  the  midst  of  a  congregation  of  araguatos  to  en- 
able me  for  the  first  time  fully  to  appreciate  their 
unparalleled  vocal  powers.  I  had  always  heard 
them  at  a  distance:  here  they  were  gathered  in 
scores,  possibly  hundreds — the  whole  araguato  popu- 
lation of  the  forest,  I  should  think — close  to  me ;  and 
it  may  give  some  faint  conception  of  the  tremendous 
power  and  awful  character  of  the  sound  thus  pro- 
duced by  their  combined  voices  when  I  say  that  this 
animal — miscalled  "  howler  "  in  English — would  out- 
roar  the  mightiest  lion  that  ever  woke  the  echoes  of 
an  African  wilderness. 

This  roaring  concert,  which  lasted  three  or  four 
minutes,  having  ended,  I  lingered  a  few  minutes 
longer  on  the  spot,  and  not  hearing  the  voice  again, 
went  back  to  the  edge  of  the  wood,  and  then  started 
on  my  way  back  to  the  village. 


CHAPTER  IV 

>ERHAPS  I  was  not  capable  of  thinking  quite 
coherently  on  what  had  just  happened  until  I 
was  once  more  fairly  outside  of  the  forest  shadows 
— out  in  that  clear  open  daylight,  where  things  seem 
what  they  are,  and  imagination,  like  a  juggler  de- 
tected and  laughed  at,  hastily  takes  itself  out  of 
the  way.  As  I  walked  homewards  I  paused  midway 
on  the  barren  ridge  to  gaze  back  on  the  scene  I  had 
left,  and  then  the  recent  adventure  began  to  take  a 
semi-ludicrous  aspect  in  my  mind.  All  that  circum- 
stance of  preparation,  that  mysterious  prelude  to 
something  unheard  of,  unimaginable,  surpassing  all 
fables  ancient  and  modern,  and  all  tragedies — to  end 
at  last  in  a  concert  of  howling  monkeys !  Certainly 
the  concert  was  very  grand,  indeed  one  of  the  most 
astounding  in  nature,  but  still — I  sat  down  on  a 
stone  and  laughed  freely. 

The  sun  was  sinking  behind  the  forest,  its  broad 
red  disc  still  showing  through  the  topmost  leaves,  and 
the  higher  part  of  the  foliage  was  of  a  luminous 
green,  like  green  flame,  throwing  off  flakes  of  quiver- 
ing, fiery  light,  but  lower  down  the  trees  were  in  pro- 
found shadow. 

59 


60  GREEN  MANSIONS 

I  felt  very  light-hearted  while  I  gazed  on  this 
scene!  for  how  pleasant  it  was  just  now  to  think  of 
the  strange  experience  I  had  passed  through — to 
think  that  I  had  come  safely  out  of  it,  that  no  human 
eye  had  witnessed  my  weakness,  and  that  the  mys- 
tery existed  still  to  fascinate  me !  For,  ludicrous  as 
the  denouement  now  looked,  the  cause  of  all,  the  voice 
itself,  was  a  thing  to  marvel  at  more  than  ever. 
That  it  proceeded  from  an  intelligent  being  I  was 
firmly  convinced;  and  although  too  materialistic  in 
my  way  of  thinking  to  admit  for  a  moment  that  it 
was  a  supernatural  being,  I  still  felt  that  there  was 
something  more  than  I  had  at  first  imagined  in  Kua- 
ko's  speech  about  a  daughter  of  the  Didi.  That  the 
Indians  knew  a  great  deal  about  the  mysterious  voice, 
and  had  held  it  in  great  fear,  seemed  evident.  But 
they  were  savages,  with  ways  that  were  not  mine; 
and  however  friendly  they  might  be  towards  one  of  a 
superior  race,  there  was  always  in  their  relations 
with  him  a  low  cunning,  prompted  partly  by  suspi- 
cion, underlying  their  words  and  actions.  For  the 
white  man  to  put  himself  mentally  on  their  level  is 
not  more  impossible  than  for  these  aborigines  to  be 
perfectly  open,  as  children  are,  towards  the  white. 
Whatever  subject  the  stranger  within  their  gates 
exhibits  an  interest  in,  that  they  will  be  reticent 
about;  and  their  reticence,  which  conceals  itself  un- 
der easily  invented  lies  or  an  affected  stupidity,  in- 
variably  increases   with  his   desire   for   information. 


GREEN  MANSIONS  61 

It  was  plain  to  them  that  some  very  unusual  interest 
took  me  to  the  wood,  consequently  I  could  not  ex- 
pect that  they  would  tell  me  anything  they  might 
know  to  enlighten  me  about  the  matter;  and  I  con- 
cluded that  Kua-ko's  words  about  the  daughter  of 
the  Didi,  and  what  she  would  do  if  he  blew  an  arrow 
at  a  bird,  had  accidentally  escaped  him  in  a  moment 
of  excitement  Nothing,  therefore,  was  to  be  gained 
by  questioning  them,  or,  at  all  events,  by  telling  them 
how  much  the  subject  attracted  me.  And  I  had 
nothing  to  fear;  my  independent  investigations  had 
made  this  much  clear  to  me ;  the  voice  might  proceed 
from  a  very  frolicsome  and  tricksy  creature,  full  of 
wild  fantastic  humours,  but  nothing  worse.  It  was 
friendly  to  me,  I  felt  sure ;  at  the  same  time  it  might 
not  be  friendly  towards  the  Indians ;  for,  on  that 
day,  it  had  made  itself  heard  only  after  my  compan- 
ion had  taken  flight ;  and  it  had  then  seemed  incensed 
against  me,  possibly  because  the  savage  had  been  in 
my  company. 

That  was  the  result  of  my  reflections  on  the  day's 
events,  when  I  returned  to  my  entertainer's  roof,  and 
sat  down  among  my  friends  to  refresh  myself  with 
stewed  fowl  and  fish  from  the  household  pot,  into 
which  a  hospitable  woman  invited  me  with  a  gesture 
to  dip  my  fingers, 

Kua-ko  was  lying  in  his  hammock,  smoking,  I 
think — certainly  not  reading.  When  I  entered  he 
lifted  his  head  and  stared  at  me,  probably  surprised 


62  GREEN  MANSIONS 

to  see  me  alive,  unharmed,  and  in  a  placid  temper. 
I  laughed  at  the  look,  and  somewhat  disconcerted, 
he  dropped  his  head  down  again.  After  a  minute  or 
two  I  took  the  metal  match-box  and  tossed  it  on  to 
his  breast.  He  clutched  it,  and  starting  up,  stared 
at  me  in  the  utmost  astonishment.  He  could 
scarcely  believe  his  good  fortune;  for  he  had  failed 
to  carry  out  his  part  of  the  compact  and  had  re- 
signed himself  to  the  loss  of  the  coveted  prize. 
Jumping  down  to  the  floor,  he  held  up  the  box  tri- 
umphantly, his  joy  overcoming  the  habitual  stolid 
look;  while  all  the  others  gathered  about  him,  each 
trying  to  get  the  box  into  his  own  hands  to  admire 
it  again,  notwithstanding  that  they  had  all  seen  it  a 
dozen  times  before.  But  it  was  Kua-ko's  now  and 
not  the  stranger's,  and  therefore  more  nearly  their 
own  than  formerly,  and  must  look  different,  more 
beautiful,  with  a  brighter  polish  on  the  metal. 
And  that  wonderful  enamelled  cock  on  the  lid — fig- 
ured in  Paris  probably,  but  just  like  a  cock  in  Gua- 
yana,  the  pet  bird  which  they  no  more  think  of  kill- 
ing and  eating  than  we  do  our  purring  pussies  and 
lemon-coloured  canaries — must  now  look  more  strik- 
ingly valiant  and  cock-like  than  ever,  with  its  crim- 
son comb  and  wattles,  burnished  red  hackles,  and 
dark  green  arching  tail-plumes.  But  Kua-ko,  while 
willing  enough  to  have  it  admired  and  praised,  would 
not  let  it  out  of  his  hands,  and  told  them  pompously 
that  it  was  not  theirs  for  them  to  handle,  but  his — 


GREEN  MANSIONS  63 

Kua-ko's — for  all  time ;  that  he  had  won  it  by  accom- 
panying me — valorous  man  that  he  was  ! — to  that  evil 
wood  into  which  they — timid,  inferior  creatures  that 
they  were ! — would  never  have  ventured  to  set  foot. 
I  am  not  translating  his  words,  but  that  was  what 
he  gave  them  to  understand  pretty  plainly,  to  my 
great  amusement. 

After  the  excitement  was  over,  Runi,  who  had 
maintained  a  dignified  calm,  made  some  roundabout 
remarks,  apparently  with  the  object  of  eliciting  an 
account  of  what  I  had  seen  and  heard  in  the  forest 
of  evil  fame.  I  replied  carelessly  that  I  had  seen  a 
great  many  birds  and  monkeys — monkeys  so  tame 
that  I  might  have  procured  one  if  I  had  had  a  blow- 
pipe, in  spite  of  my  never  having  practised  shooting 
with  that  weapon. 

It  interested  them  to  hear  about  the  abundance 
and  tameness  of  the  monkeys,  although  it  was 
scarcely  news:  but  how  tame  they  must  have  been 
when  I,  the  stranger  not  to  the  manner  born — not 
naked,  brown-skinned,  lynx-eyed,  and  noiseless  as  an 
owl  in  his  movements — had  yet  been  able  to  look 
closely  at  them!  Runi  only  remarked,  apropos  of 
what  I  had  told  him,  that  they  could  not  go  there  to 
hunt;  then  he  asked  me  if  I  feared  nothing. 

"  Nothing,"  I  replied  carelessly.  "  The  things 
you  fear  hurt  not  the  white  man,  and  are  no  more 
than  this  to  me,"  saying  which  I  took  up  a  little 
white  wood-ash  in  my  hand  and  blew  it  away  with  my 


64  GREEN  MANSIONS 

breath.  "  And  against  other  enemies  I  have  this," 
I  added,  touching  my  revolver.  A  brave  speech, 
just  after  that  araguato  episode ;  but  I  did  not  make 
it  without  blushing — mentally. 

He  shook  his  head,  and  said  it  was  a  poor  weapon 
against  some  enemies  ;  also — truly  enough — that  it 
would  procure  no  birds  and  monkeys  for  the  stew- 
pot. 

Next  morning  my  friend  Kua-ko,  taking  his  zaba- 
tana,  invited  me  to  go  out  with  him,  and  I  consented 
with  some  misgivings,  thinking  he  had  overcome  his 
superstitious  fears,  and,  inflamed  by  my  account  of 
the  abundance  of  game  in  the  forest,  intended  going 
there  with  me.  The  previous  day's  experience  had 
made  me  think  that  it  would  be  better  in  the  future 
to  go  there  alone.  But  I  was  giving  the  poor  youth 
more  credit  than  he  deserved :  it  was  far  from  his  in- 
tention to  face  the  terrible  unknown  again.  We 
went  in  a  different  direction,  and  tramped  for  hours 
through  woods  where  birds  were  scarce  and  only  of 
the  smaller  kinds.  Then  my  guide  surprised  me  a 
second  time  by  offering  to  teach  me  to  use  the  zaba- 
tana.  This,  then,  was  to  be  my  reward  for  giving 
him  the  box !  I  readily  consented,  and  with  the  long 
weapon,  awkward  to  carry,  in  my  hand,  and  imitat- 
ing the  noiseless  movements  and  cautious,  watchful 
manner  of  my  companion,  I  tried  to  imagine  myself 
a  simple  Guayana  savage,  with  no  knowledge  of  that 
artificial  social  state  to  which  I  had  been  born,  de- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  65 

pendent  on  my  skill  and  little  roll  of  poison-darts 
for  a  livelihood.  By  an  effort  of  the  will  I  emptied 
myself  of  my  life  experience  and  knowledge — or  as 
much  of  it  as  possible — and  thought  only  of  the 
generations  of  my  dead  imaginary  progenitors,  who 
had  ranged  these  woods  back  to  the  dim  forgotten 
years  before  Columbus ;  and  if  the  pleasure  I  had  in 
the  fancy  was  childish,  it  made  the  day  pass  quickly 
enough.  Kua-ko  was  constantly  at  my  elbow  to  as- 
sist and  give  advice ;  and  many  an  arrow  I  blew  from 
the  long  tube,  and  hit  no  bird.  Heaven  knows  what 
I  hit,  for  the  arrows  flew  away  on  their  wide  and 
wild  career  to  be  seen  no  more,  except  a  few  which 
my  keen-eyed  comrade  marked  to  their  destination 
and  managed  to  recover.  The  result  of  our  day's 
hunting  was  a  couple  of  birds,  which  Kua-ko,  not  I, 
shot,  and  a  small  opossum  his  sharp  eyes  detected 
high  up  a  tree  lying  coiled  up  on  an  old  nest,  over  the 
side  of  which  the  animal  had  incautiously  allowed  his 
snaky  tail  to  dangle.  The  number  of  darts  I  wasted 
must  have  been  a  rather  serious  loss  to  him,  but  he 
did  not  seem  troubled  at  it,  and  made  no  remark. 

Next  day,  to  my  surprise,  he  volunteered  to  give 
me  a  second  lesson,  and  we  went  out  again.  On  this 
occasion  he  had  provided  himself  with  a  large  bundle 
of  darts,  but — wise  man ! — they  were  not  poisoned, 
and  it  therefore  mattered  little  whether  they  were 
wasted  or  not.  I  believe  that  on  this  day  I  made 
some  little  progress ;  at  all  events,  my  teacher  re- 


66  GREEN  MANSIONS 

marked  that  before  long  I  would  be  able  to  hit  a  bird. 
This  made  me  smile  and  answer  that  if  he  could  place 
me  within  twenty  yards  of  a  bird  not  smaller  than  a 
small  man  I  might  manage  to  touch  it  with  an  arrow. 

This  speech  had  a  very  unexpected  and  remark- 
able effect.  He  stopped  short  in  his  walk,  stared  at 
me  wildly,  then  grinned,  and  finally  burst  into  a 
roar  of  laughter,  which  was  no  bad  imitation  of  the 
howling  monkey's  performance,  and  smote  his  naked 
thighs  with  tremendous  energy.  At  length  recover- 
ing himself,  he  asked  whether  a  small  woman  was 
not  the  same  as  a  small  man,  and  being  answered  in 
the  affirmative,  went  off  into  a  second  extravagant 
roar  of  laughter. 

Thinking  it  was  easy  to  tickle  him  while  he  contin- 
ued in  this  mood,  I  began  making  any  number  of 
feeble  jokes — feeble,  but  quite  as  good  as  the  one 
which  had  provoked  such  outrageous  merriment — for 
it  amused  me  to  see  him  acting  in  this  unusual  way. 
But  they  all  failed  of  their  effect — there  was  no  hit- 
ting the  bull's-eye  a  second  time ;  he  would  only  stare 
vacantly  at  me,  then  grunt  like  a  peccary — not  ap- 
preciatively— and  walk  on.  Still,  at  intervals  he 
would  go  back  to  what  I  said  about  hitting  a  very 
big  bird,  and  roar  again,  as  if  this  wonderful  joke 
was  not  easily  exhausted. 

Again  on  the  third  day  we  were  out  together  prac- 
tising at  the  birds — frightening,  if  not  killing  them ; 
but  before  noon,  finding  that  it  was  his  intention  to 


GREEN  MANSIONS  67 

go  to  a  distant  spot  where  he  expected  to  meet  with 
larger  game,  I  left  him  and  returned  to  the  village. 
The  blow-pipe  practice  had  lost  its  novelty,  and  I 
did  not  care  to  go  on  all  day  and  every  day  with  it ; 
more  than  that,  I  was  anxious  after  so  long  an  inter- 
val to  pay  a  visit  to  my  wood,  as  I  began  to  call  it, 
in  the  hope  of  hearing  that  mysterious  melody,  which 
I  had  grown  to  love  and  to  miss  when  even  a  single 
day  passed  without  it. 


CHAPTER  V 

AFTER  making  a  hasty  meal  at  the  house,  I 
started,  full  of  pleasing  anticipations,  for  the 
wood;  for  how  pleasant  a  place  it  was  to  be  in! 
What  a  wild  beauty  and  fragrance  and  melodious- 
ness it  possessed  above  all  forests,  because  of  that 
mystery  that  drew  me  to  it !  And  it  was  mine,  truly 
and  absolutely — as  much  mine  as  any  portion  of 
earth's  surface  could  belong  to  any  man — mine  with 
all  its  products;  the  precious  woods  and  fruits  and 
fragrant  gums  that  would  never  be  trafficked  away ; 
its  wild  animals  that  man  would  never  persecute; 
nor  would  any  jealous  savage  dispute  my  ownership 
or  pretend  that  it  was  part  of  his  hunting-ground. 
As  I  crossed  the  savannah  I  played  with  this  fancy; 
but  when  I  reached  the  ridgy  eminence,  to  look  down 
once  more  on  my  new  domain,  the  fancy  changed  to 
a  feeling  so  keen  that  it  pierced  to  my  heart,  and 
was  like  pain  in  its  intensity,  causing  tears  to  rush 
to  my  eyes.  And  caring  not  in  that  solitude  to  dis- 
guise my  feelings  from  myself,  and  from  the  wide 
heaven  that  looked  down  and  saw  me — for  this  is  the 
sweetest  thing  that  solitude  has  for  us,  that  we  are 

free  in  it,  and  no  convention  holds  us — I  dropped  on 

68 


GREEN  MANSIONS  69 

my  knees  and  kissed  the  stony  ground,  then  casting 
up  my  eyes,  thanked  the  Author  of  my  being  for  the 
gift  of  that  wild  forest,  those  green  mansions  where 
I  had  found  so  great  a  happiness ! 

Elated  with  this  strain  of  feeling,  I  reached  the 
wood  not  long  after  noon ;  but  no  melodious  voice 
gave  me  familiar  and  expected  welcome;  nor  did  my 
invisible  companion  make  itself  heard  at  all  on  that 
day,  or,  at  all  events,  not  in  its  usual  bird-like  war- 
bling language.  But  on  this  day  I  met  with  a  curi- 
ous little  adventure,  and  heard  something  very  ex- 
traordinary, very  mysterious,  which  I  could  not 
avoid  connecting  in  my  mind  with  the  unseen  warbler 
that  so  often  followed  me  in  my  rambles. 

It  was  an  exceedingly  bright  day,  without  cloud, 
but  windy,  and  finding  myself  in  a  rather  open  part 
of  the  wood,  near  its  border,  where  the  breeze  could 
be  felt,  I  sat  down  to  rest  on  the  lower  part  of  a  large 
branch,  which  was  half  broken,  but  still  remained  at- 
tached to  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  while  resting  its 
terminal  twigs  on  the  ground.  Just  before  me,  where 
I  sat,  grew  a  low,  wide-spreading  plant,  covered  with 
broad,  round,  polished  leaves ;  and  the  roundness, 
stiffness,  and  perfectly  horizontal  position  of  the 
upper  leaves  made  them  look  like  a  collection  of  small 
platforms  or  round  table-tops  placed  nearly  on  a 
level.  Through  the  leaves,  to  the  height  of  a  foot 
or  more  above  them,  a  slender  dead  stem  protruded, 
and  from  a  twig  at  its  summit  depended  a  broken 


70  GREEN  MANSIONS 

spider's  web.  A  minute  dead  leaf  had  become  at- 
tached to  one  of  the  loose  threads,  and  threw  its 
small  but  distinct  shadow  on  the  platform  leaves  be- 
low: and  as  it  trembled  and  swayed  in  the  current  of 
air  the  black  spot  trembled  with  it  or  flew  swiftly 
over  the  bright  green  surfaces,  and  was  seldom  at 
rest.  Now,  as  I  sat  looking  down  on  the  leaves  and 
the  small  dancing  shadow,  scarcely  thinking  of  what 
I  was  looking  at,  I  noticed  a  small  spider,  with  a  flat 
body  and  short  legs,  creep  cautiously  out  on  to  the 
upper  surface  of  a  leaf.  Its  pale  red  colour  barred 
with  velvet  black  first  drew  my  attention  to  it,  for 
it  was  beautiful  to  the  eye ;  and  presently  I  discov- 
ered that  this  was  no  web-spinning,  sedentary  spider, 
but  a  wandering  hunter,  that  captured  its  prey,  like 
a  cat,  by  stealing  on  it  concealed  and  making  a  rush 
or  spring  at  the  last.  The  moving  shadow  had  at- 
tracted it,  and,  as  the  sequel  showed,  was  mistaken 
for  a  fly  running  about  over  the  leaves,  and  flitting 
from  leaf  to  leaf.  Now  began  a  series  of  wonderful 
manoeuvres  on  the  spider's  part,  with  the  object  of 
circumventing  the  imaginary  fly,  which  seemed  spe- 
cially designed  to  meet  this  special  case ;  for  cer- 
tainly no  insect  had  ever  before  behaved  in  quite  so 
erratic  a  manner.  Each  time  the  shadow  flew  past, 
the  spider  ran  swiftly  in  the  same  direction,  hiding 
itself  under  the  leaves,  always  trying  to  get  near 
without  alarming  its  prey ;  and  then  the  shadow 
would  go  round  and  round  in  a  small  circle,  and  some 


GREEN  MANSIONS  71 

new  strategic  move  on  the  part  of  the  hunter  would 
be  called  forth.  I  became  deeply  interested  in  this 
curious  scene ;  I  began  to  wish  that  the  shadow  would 
remain  quiet  for  a  moment  or  two,  so  as  to  give  the 
hunter  a  chance.  And  at  last  I  had  my  wish:  the 
shadow  was  almost  motionless,  and  the  spider  mov- 
ing towards  it,  yet  seeming  not  to  move,  and  as  it 
crept  closer  I  fancied  that  I  could  almost  see  the 
little  striped  body  quivering  with  excitement.  Then 
came  the  final  scene:  swift  and  straight  as  an  arrow 
the  hunter  shot  himself  on  to  the  fly-like  shadow, 
then  wiggled  round  and  round,,  evidently  trying  to 
take  hold  of  his  prey  with  fangs  and  claws ;  and  find- 
ing nothing  under  him,  he  raised  the  fore  part  of  his 
body  vertically,  as  if  to  stare  about  him  in  search 
of  the  delusive  fly ;  but  the  action  may  have  simply 
expressed  astonishment.  At  this  moment  I  was  just 
on  the  point  of  giving  free  and  loud  vent  to  the 
laughter  which  I  had  been  holding  in,  when,  just  be- 
hind me,  as  if  from  some  person  who  had  been  watch- 
ing the  scene  over  my  shoulder  and  was  as  much 
amused  as  myself  at  its  termination,  sounded  a  clear 
trill  of  merry  laughter.  I  started  up  and  looked 
hastily  around,  but  no  living  creature  was  there 
The  mass  of  loose  foliage  I  stared  into  was  agitated, 
as  if  from  a  body  having  just  pushed  through  it. 
In  a  moment  the  leaves  and  fronds  were  motionless 
again ;  still,  I  could  not  be  sure  that  a  slight  gust  of 
wind  had  not  shaken  them.     But  I  was  so  convinced 


72  GREEN  MANSIONS 

that  I  had  heard  close  to  me  a  real  human  laugh,  or 
sound  of  some  living  creature  that  exactly  simulated 
a  laugh,  that  I  carefully  searched  the  ground  about 
me,  expecting  to  find  a  being  of  some  kind.  But  I 
found  nothing,  and  going  back  to  my  seat  on  the 
hanging  branch,  I  remained  seated  for  a  considerable 
time,  at  first  only  listening,  then  pondering  on  the 
mystery  of  that  sweet  trill  of  laughter ;  and  finally  I 
began  to  wonder  whether  I,  like  the  spider  that 
chased  the  shadow,  had  been  deluded,  and  had  seemed 
to  hear  a  sound  that  was  not  a  sound. 

On  the  following  day  I  was  in  the  wood  again,  and 
after  a  two  or  three  hours'  ramble,  during  which  I 
heard  nothing,  thinking  it  useless  to  haunt  the  known 
spots  any  longer,  I  turned  southwards  and  pene- 
trated into  a  denser  part  of  the  forest,  where  the  un- 
dergrowth made  progress  difficult.  I  was  not  afraid 
of  losing  myself;  the  sun  above  and  my  sense  of  di- 
rection, which  was  always  good,  would  enable  me  to 
return  to  the  starting-point. 

In  this  direction  I  had  been  pushing  resolutely  on 
for  over  half  an  hour,  finding  it  no  easy  matter  to 
make  my  way  without  constantly  deviating  to  this 
side  or  that  from  the  course  I  wished  to  keep,  when  I 
came  to  a  much  more  open  spot.  The  trees  were 
smaller  and  scantier  here,  owing  to  the  rocky  nature 
of  the  ground,  which  sloped  rather  rapidly  down ; 
but  it  was  moist  and  overgrown  with  mosses,  ferns, 
creepers,  and  low  shrubs,  all  of  the  liveliest  green.     I 


GREEN  MANSIONS  73 

could  not  see  many  yards  ahead  owing  to  the  bushes 
and  tall  fern  fronds ;  but  presently  I  began  to  hear  a 
low,  continuous  sound,  which,  when  I  had  advanced 
twenty  or  thirty  yards  further,  I  made  out  to  be 
the  gurgling  of  running  water;  and  at  the  same  mo- 
ment I  made  the  discovery  that  my  throat  was 
parched  and  my  palms  tingling  with  heat.  I  hurried 
on,  promising  myself  a  cool  draught,  when  all  at 
once,  above  the  soft  dashing  and  gurgling  of  the 
water,  I  caught  yet  another  sound — a  low,  warbling 
note,  or  succession  of  notes,  which  might  have  been 
emitted  by  a  bird.  But  it  startled  me  nevertheless 
— bird-like  warbling  sounds  had  come  to  mean  so 
much  to  me — and  pausing,  I  listened  intently.  It 
was  not  repeated,  and  finally,  treading  with  the  ut- 
most caution  so  as  not  to  alarm  the  mysterious  vo- 
calist, I  crept  on  until,  coming  to  a  greenheart  with 
a  quantity  of  feathery  foliage  of  a  shrub  growing 
about  its  roots,  I  saw  that  just  beyond  the  tree  the 
ground  was  more  open  still,  letting  in  the  sunlight 
from  above,  and  that  the  channel  of  the  stream  I 
sought  was  in  this  open  space,  about  twenty  yards 
from  me,  although  the  water  was  still  hidden  from 
sight.  Something  else  was  there,  which  I  did  see ; 
instantly  my  cautious  advance  was  arrested.  I 
stood  gazing  with  concentrated  vision,  scarcely  dar- 
ing to  breathe  lest  I  should  scare  it  away. 

It  was  a  human  being — a  girl  form,  reclining  on 
the  moss  among  the  ferns  and  herbage,  near  the  roots 


74)  GREEN  MANSIONS 

of  a  small  tree.  One  arm  was  doubled  behind  her 
neck  for  her  head  to  rest  upon,  while  the  other  arm 
was  held  extended  before  her,  the  hand  raised  to- 
wards a  small  brown  bird  perched  on  a  pendulous 
twig  just  beyond  its  reach.  She  appeared  to  be 
playing  with  the  bird,  possibly  amusing  herself  by 
trying  to  entice  it  on  to  her  hand ;  and  the  hand  ap- 
peared to  tempt  it  greatly,  for  it  persistently  hopped 
up  and  down,  turning  rapidly  about  this  way  and 
that,  flirting  its  wings  and  tail,  and  always  appear- 
ing just  on  the  point  of  dropping  on  to  her  finger. 
From  my  position  it  was  impossible  to  see  her  dis- 
tinctly, yet  I  dared  not  move.  I  could  make  out 
that  she  was  small,  not  above  four  feet  six  or  seven 
inches  in  height,  in  figure  slim,  with  delicately  shaped 
little  hands  and  feet.  Her  feet  were  bare,  and  her 
only  garment  was  a  slight  chemise-shaped  dress 
reaching  below  her  knees,  of  a  whitish-grey  colour, 
with  a  faint  lustre  as  of  a  silky  material.  Her  hair 
was  very  wonderful;  it  was  loose  and  abundant,  and 
seemed  wavy  or  curly,  falling  in  a  cloud  on  her  shoul- 
ders and  arms.  Dark  it  appeared,  but  the  precise 
tint  was  indeterminable,  as  was  that  of  her  skin, 
which  looked  neither  brown  nor  white.  Altogether, 
near  to  me  as  she  actually  was.  there  was  a  kind  of 
mistiness  in  the  figure  which  made  it  appear  some- 
what vague  and  distant,  and  a  greenish  grey  seemed 
the  prevailing  colour.  This  tint  I  presently  attrib- 
uted  to   the   effect   of   the   sunlight   falling   on   her 


GREEN  MANSIONS  75 

through  the  green  foliage ;  for  once,  for  a  moment, 
she  raised  herself  to  reach  her  finger  nearer  to  the 
bird,  and  then  a  gleam  of  unsubdued  sunlight  fell  on 
her  hair  and  arm,  and  the  arm  at  that  moment  ap- 
peared of  a  pearly  whiteness,  and  the  hair,  just 
where  the  light  touched  it,  had  a  strange  lustre  and 
play  of  iridescent  colour. 

I  had  not  been  watching  her  more  than  three  sec- 
onds before  the  bird,  with  a  sharp,  creaking  little 
chirp,  flew  up  and  away  in  sudden  alarm ;  at  the  same 
moment  she  turned  and  saw  me  through  the  light 
leafy  screen.  But  although  catching  sight  of  me 
thus  suddenly,  she  did  not  exhibit  alarm  like  the 
bird;  only  her  eyes,  wide  open,  with  a  surprised  look 
in  them,  remained  immovably  fixed  on  my  face.  And 
then  slowly,  imperceptibly — for  I  did  not  notice  the 
actual  movement,  so  gradual  and  smooth  it  was,  like 
the  motion  of  a  cloud  of  mist  which  changes  its  form 
and  place,  yet  to  the  eye  seems  not  to  have  moved — 
she  rose  to  her  knees,  to  her  feet,  retired,  and  with 
face  still  towards  me,  and  eyes  fixed  on  mine,  finally 
disappeared,  going  as  if  she  had  melted  away  into 
the  verdure.  The  leafage  was  there  occupying  the 
precise  spot  where  she  had  been  a  moment  before — 
the  feathery  foliage  of  an  acacia  shrub,  and  stems 
and  broad,  arrow-shaped  leaves  of  an  aquatic  plant, 
and  slim,  drooping  fern  fronds,  and  they  were  mo- 
tionless, and  seemed  not  to  have  been  touched  by 
something  passing  through  them.     She  had  gone,  yet 


76  GREEN  MANSIONS 

I  continued  still,  bent  almost  double,  gazing  fixedly 
at  the  spot  where  I  had  last  seen  her,  my  mind  in 
a  strange  condition,  possessed  by  sensations  which 
were  keenly  felt  and  yet  contradictory.  So  vivid 
was  the  image  left  on  my  brain  that  she  still  seemed 
to  be  actually  before  my  eyes ;  and  she  was  not  there, 
nor  had  been,  for  it  was  a  dream,  an  illusion,  and 
no  such  being  existed,  or  could  exist,  in  this  gross 
world :  and  at  the  same  time  I  knew  that  she  had  been 
there — that  imagination  was  powerless  to  conjure 
up  a  form  so  exquisite. 

With  the  mental  image  I  had  to  be  satisfied,  for 
although  I  remained  for  some  hours  at  that  spot  I 
saw  her  no  more,  nor  did  I  hear  any  familiar  melo- 
dious sound.  For  I  was  now  convinced  that  in  this 
wild  solitary  girl  I  had  at  length  discovered  the 
mysterious  warbler  that  so  often  followed  me  in  the 
wood.  At  length,  seeing  that  it  was  growing  late, 
I  took  a  drink  from  the  stream  and  slowly  and  re- 
luctantly made  my  way  out  of  the  forest,  and  went 
home. 

Early  next  day  I  was  back  in  the  wood  full  of  de- 
lightful anticipations,  and  had  no  sooner  got  well 
among  the  trees  than  a  soft,  warbling  sound  reached 
my  ears ;  it  was  like  that  heard  on  the  previous  day 
just  before  catching  sight  of  the  girl  among  the 
ferns.  So  soon  !  thought  I,  elated,  and  with  cautious 
steps  I  proceeded  to  explore  the  ground,  hoping 
again  to  catch  her  unawares.     But  I  saw  nothing; 


GREEN  MANSIONS  77 

and  only  after  beginning  to  doubt  that  I  had  heard 
anything  unusual,  and  had  sat  down  to  rest  on  a 
rock,  the  sound  was  repeated,  soft  and  low  as  before, 
very  near  and  distinct.  Nothing  more  was  heard 
at  this  spot,  but  an  hour  later,  in  another  place,  the 
same  mysterious  note  sounded  near  me.  During  my 
remaining  time  in  the  forest  I  was  served  many  times 
in  the  same  way,  and  still  nothing  was  seen,  nor  was 
there  any  change  in  the  voice. 

Only  when  the  day  was  near  its  end  did  I  give  up 
my  quest,  feeling  very  keenly  disappointed.  It  then 
struck  me  that  the  cause  of  the  elusive  creature's 
behaviour  was  that  she  had  been  piqued  at  my  dis- 
covery of  her  in  one  of  her  most  secret  hiding-places 
in  the  heart  of  the  wood,  and  that  it  had  pleased  her 
to  pay  me  out  in  this  manner. 

On  the  next  day  there  was  no  change ;  she  was 
there  again,  evidently  following  me,  but  always  invis- 
ible, and  varied  not  from  that  one  mocking  note  of 
yesterday,  which  seemed  to  challenge  me  to  find  her 
a  second  time.  In  the  end  I  was  vexed,  and  resolved 
to  be  even  with  her  by  not  visiting  the  wood  for  some 
time.  A  display  of  indifference  on  my  part  would,  I 
hoped,  result  in  making  her  less  coy  in  the  future. 

Next  day,  firm  in  my  new  resolution,  I  accom- 
panied Kua-ko  and  two  others  to  a  distant  spot 
where  they  expected  that  the  ripening  fruit  on  a 
cashew  tree  would  attract  a  large  number  of  birds. 
The  fruit,  however,  proved  still  green,  so   that  we 


78  GREEN  MANSIONS 

gathered  none  and  killed  few  birds.  Returning 
together,  Kua-ko  kept  at  my  side,  and  by-and-by, 
falling  behind  our  companions,  he  complimented  me 
on  my  good  shooting,  although,  as  usual,  I  had  only 
wasted  the  arrows  I  had  blown. 

"  Soon  you  will  be  able  to  hit,"  he  said ;  "  hit  a 
bird  as  big  as  a  small  woman  " ;  and  he  laughed  once 
more  immoderately  at  the  old  joke.  At  last,  grow- 
ing confidential,  he  said  that  I  would  soon  possess  a 
zabatana  of  my  own,  with  arrows  in  plenty.  He  was 
going  to  make  the  arrows  himself,  and  his  uncle  Ota- 
winki,  who  had  a  straight  eye,  would  make  the  tube. 
I  treated  it  all  as  a  joke,  but  he  solmenly  assured  me 
that  he  meant  it. 

Next  morning  he  asked  me  if  I  was  going  to  the 
forest  of  evil  fame,  and  when  I  replied  in  the  negative 
seemed  surprised  and,  very  much  to  my  surprise, 
evidently  disappointed.  He  even  tried  to  persuade 
me  to  go,  where  before  I  had  been  earnestly  recom- 
mended not  to  go,  until,  finding  that  I  would  not,  he 
took  me  with  him  to  hunt  in  the  woods.  By-and-by 
he  returned  to  the  same  subject:  he  could  not  under- 
stand why  I  would  not  go  to  that  wood,  and  asked 
me  if  I  had  begun  to  grow  afraid. 

"No,  not  afraid,"  I  replied;  "but  I  know  the 
place  well,  and  am  getting  tired  of  it."  I  had  seen 
everything  in  it — birds  and  beasts — and  had  heard 
all  its  strange  noises. 

"  Yes,   heard,"   he   said,   nodding  his  head  know- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  79 

ingly ;  "  but  you  have  seen  nothing  strange ;  your 
eyes  are  not  good  enough  yet." 

I  laughed  contemptuously,  and  answered  that  I 
had  seen  everything  strange  the  wood  contained,  in- 
cluding a  strange  young  girl;  and  I  went  on  to  de- 
scribe her  appearance,  and  finished  by  asking  if  he 
thought  a  white  man  was  frightened  at  the  sight  of 
a  young  girl. 

What  I  said  astonished  him ;  then  he  seemed 
greatly  pleased,  and,  growing  still  more  confidential 
and  generous  than  on  the  previous  day,  he  said  that 
I  would  soon  be  a  most  important  personage  among 
them,  and  greatly  distinguish  myself.  He  did  not 
like  it  when  I  laughed  at  all  this,  and  went  on  with 
great  seriousness  to  speak  of  the  unmade  blow-pipe 
that  would  be  mine — speaking  of  it  as  if  it  had  been 
something  very  great,  equal  to  the  gift  of  a  large 
tract  of  land,  or  the  governorship  of  a  province, 
north  of  the  Orinoco.  And  by-and-by  he  spoke  of 
something  else  more  wonderful  even  than  the  promise 
of  a  blow-pipe,  with  arrows  galore,  and  this  was  that 
young  sister  of  his,  whose  name  was  Oalava,  a  maid 
of  about  sixteen,  shy  and  silent  and  mild-eyed,  rather 
lean  and  dirty;  not  ugly,  nor  yet  prepossessing. 
And  this  copper-coloured  little  drab  of  the  wilder- 
ness he  proposed  to  bestow  in  marriage  on  me !  Anx- 
ious to  pump  him,  I  managed  to  control  my  muscles, 
and  asked  him  what  authority  he — a  young  nobody, 
who  had  not  yet  risen  to  the  dignity  of  buying  a  wife 


SO  GREEN  MANSIONS 

for  himself — could  have  to  dispose  of  a  sister  in  this 
offhand  way  ?  He  replied  that  there  would  be  no  dif- 
ficulty: that  Runi  would  give  his  consent,  as  would 
also  Otawinki,  Piake,  and  other  relations ;  and  last, 
and  least,  according  to  the  matrimonial  customs  of 
these  latitudes,  Oalava  herself  would  be  ready  to  be- 
stow her  person — queyou,  worn  figleaf-wise,  necklace 
of  accouri  teeth,  and  all — on  so  worthy  a  suitor  as 
myself.  Finally,  to  make  the  prospect  still  more  in- 
viting, he  added  that  it  would  not  be  necessary  for 
me  to  subject  myself  to  any  voluntary  tortures  to 
prove  myself  a  man  and  fitted  to  enter  into  the  pur- 
gatorial state  of  matrimony.  He  was  a  great  deal 
too  considerate,  I  said,  and,  with  all  the  gravity  I 
could  command,  asked  him  what  kind  of  torture  he 
would  recommend.  For  me — so  valorous  a  person 
— "  no  torture,"  he  answered  magnanimously.  But 
he — Kua-ko — had  made  up  his  mind  as  to  the  form 
of  torture  he  meant  to  inflict  some  day  on  his  own 
person.  He  would  prepare  a  large  sack  and  into  it 
put  fire-ants — "  As  many  as  that !  "  he  exclaimed 
triumphantly,  stooping  and  filling  his  two  hands  with 
loose  sand.  He  would  put  them  in  the  sack,  and 
then  get  into  it  himself  naked,  and  tie  it  tightly 
round  his  neck,  so  as  to  show  to  all  spectators  that 
the  hellish  pain  of  innumerable  venomous  stings  in 
his  flesh  could  be  endured  without  a  groan,  and  with 
an  unmoved  countenance.  The  poor  youth  had  not 
an  original  mind,  since  this  was  one  of  the  common- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  81 

est  forms  of  self-torture  among  the  Guayana  tribes. 
But  the  sudden  wonderful  animation  with  which  he 
spoke  of  it,  the  fiendish  joy  that  illumined  his  usu- 
ally stolid  countenance,  sent  a  sudden  disgust  and 
horror  through  me.  But  what  a  strange  inverted 
kind  of  fiendishness  is  this,  which  delights  at  the  an- 
ticipation of  torture  inflicted  on  oneself  and  not  on 
an  enemy !  And  towards  others  these  savages  are 
mild  and  peaceable !  No,  I  could  not  believe  in  their 
mildness;  that  was  only  on  the  surface,  when  noth- 
ing occurred  to  rouse  their  savage,  cruel  instincts. 
I  could  have  laughed  at  the  whole  matter,  but  the  ex- 
ulting look  on  my  companion's  face  had  made  me  sick 
of  the  subject,  and  I  wished  not  to  talk  any  more 
about  it. 

But  he  would  talk  still — this  fellow  whose  words, 
as  a  rule,  I  had  to  take  out  of  his  mouth  with  a  fork, 
as  we  say;  and  still  on  the  same  subject,  he  said  that 
not  one  person  in  the  village  would  expect  to  see  me 
torture  myself ;  that  after  what  I  would  do  for  them 
all — after  delivering  them  from  a  great  evil — noth-> 
ing  further  would  be  expected  of  me. 

I  asked  him  to  explain  his  meaning ;  for  it  now  be- 
gan to  appear  plain  that  in  everything  he  had  said 
he  had  been  leading  up  to  some  very  important  mat- 
ter. It  would,  of  course,  have  been  a  great  mistake 
to  suppose  that  my  savage  was  offering  me  a  blow- 
pipe and  a  marketable  virgin  sister  from  purely  dis- 
interested motives. 


82  GREEN  MANSIONS 

In  reply  he  went  back  to  that  still  unforgotten 
joke  about  my  being  able  eventually  to  hit  a  bird  as 
big  as  a  small  woman  with  an  arrow.  Out  of  it  all 
came,  when  he  went  on  to  ask  me  if  that  mysterious 
girl  I  had  seen  in  the  wood  was  not  of  a  size  to  suit 
me  as  a  target  when  I  had  got  my  hand  in  with  a  lit- 
tle more  practice.  That  was  the  great  work  I  was 
asked  to  do  for  them — that  shy,  mysterious  girl  with 
the  melodious  wild-bird  voice  was  the  evil  being  I 
was  asked  to  slay  with  poisoned  arrows !  This  was 
why  he  now  wished  me  to  go  often  to  the  wood,  to  be- 
come more  and  more  familiar  with  her  haunts  and 
habits,  to  overcome  all  shyness  and  suspicion  in  her; 
and  at  the  proper  moment,  when  it  would  be  impossi- 
ble to  miss  my  mark,  to  plant  the  fatal  arrow !  The 
disgust  he  had  inspired  in  me  before,  when  gloating 
over  anticipated  tortures,  was  a  weak  and  transient 
feeling  to  what  I  now  experienced.  I  turned  on  him 
in  a  sudden  transport  of  rage,  and  in  a  moment 
would  have  shattered  the  blowpipe  I  was  carrying 
in  my  hand  on  his  head,  but  his  astonished  look  as  he 
turned  to  face  me  made  me  pause,  and  prevented  me 
from  committing  so  fatal  an  indiscretion.  I  could 
only  grind  my  teeth  and  struggle  to  overcome  an  al- 
most overpowering  hatred  and  wrath.  Finally,  I 
flung  the  tube  down  and  bade  him  take  it,  telling 
him  that  I  would  not  touch  it  again  if  he  offered  me 
all  the  sisters  of  all  the  savages  in  Guayana  for 
wives. 


GREEN  MANSIONS  83 

He  continued  gazing  at  me  mute  with  astonish- 
ment, and  prudence  suggested  that  it  would  be  best 
to  conceal  as  far  as  possible  the  violent  animosity  I 
had  conceived  against  him.  I  asked  him  somewhat 
scornfully  if  he  believed  that  I  should  ever  be  able 
to  hit  anything — bird  or  human  being — with  an  ar- 
row. "  No,"  I  almost  shouted,  so  as  to  give  vent  to 
my  feelings  in  some  way,  and  drawing  my  revolver, 
"  this  is  the  white  man's  weapon ;  but  he  kills  men 
with  it — men  who  attempt  to  kill  or  injure  him — but 
neither  with  this  nor  any  other  weapon  does  he  mur- 
der innocent  young  girls  treacherously." 

After  that  we  went  on  in  silence  for  some  time; 
at  length  he  said  that  the  being  I  had  seen  in  the 
wood  and  was  not  afraid  of  was  no  innocent  young 
girl,  but  a  daughter  of  the  Didi,  an  evil  being;  and 
that  so  long  as  she  continued  to  inhabit  the  wood 
they  could  not  go  there  to  hunt,  and  even  in  other 
woods  they  constantly  went  in  fear  of  meeting  her. 
Too  much  disgusted  to  talk  with  him,  I  went  on  in 
silence ;  and  when  we  reached  the  stream  near  the  vil- 
lage I  threw  off  my  clothes  and  plunged  into  the 
water  to  cool  my  anger  before  going  in  to  the  others. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THINKING  about  the  forest  girl  while  lying 
awake  that  night,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
I  had  made  it  sufficiently  plain  to  her  how  little  her 
capricious  behaviour  had  been  relished,  and  had 
therefore  no  need  to  punish  myself  more  by  keeping 
any  longer  out  of  my  beloved  green  mansions.  Ac- 
cordingly, next  day,  after  the  heavy  rain  that  fell 
during  the  morning  hours  had  ceased,  I  set  forth 
about  noon  to  visit  the  wood.  Overhead  the  sky  was 
clear  again ;  but  there  was  no  motion  in  the  heavy 
sultry  atmosphere,  while  dark  blue  masses  of  banked- 
up  clouds  on  the  western  horizon  threatened  a  fresh 
downpour  later  in  the  day.  My  mind  was,  however, 
now  too  greatly  excited  at  the  prospect  of  a  possible 
encounter  with  the  forest  nymph  to  allow  me  to  pay 
any  heed  to  these  ominous  signs. 

I  had  passed  through  the  first  strip  of  wood,  and 
was  in  the  succeeding  stony  sterile  space,  when  a 
gleam  of  brilliant  colour  close  by  on  the  ground 
caught  my  sight.  It  was  a  snake  lying  on  the  bare 
earth;  had  I  kept  on  without  noticing  it,  I  should 
most  probably  have  trodden  upon  or  dangerously 
near  it.     Viewing  it  closely,  I  found  that  it  was  a 

coral  snake,  famed  as  much  for  its  beauty  and  singu- 

84 


GREEN  MANSIONS  85 

larity  as  for  its  deadly  character.  It  was  about 
three  feet  long,  and  very  slim ;  its  ground  colour 
a  brilliant  vermilion,  with  broad  jet-black  rings  at 
equal  distances  round  its  body,  each  black  ring  or 
band  divided  by  a  narrow  yellow  strip  in  the  middle. 
The  symmetrical  pattern'  and  vividly  contrasted  col- 
ours would  have  given  it  the  appearance  of  an  arti- 
ficial snake  made  by  some  fanciful  artist,  but  for 
the  gleam  of  life  in  its  bright  coils.  Its  fixed  eyes, 
too,  were  living  gems,  and  from  the  point  of  its  dan- 
gerous arrowy  head  the  glistening  tongue  flickered 
ceaselessly  as  I  stood  a  few  yards  away  regarding  it. 

"  I  admire  you  greatly,  Sir  Serpent,"  I  said,  or 
thought,  "  but  it  is  dangerous,  say  the  military  au- 
thorities, to  leave  an  enemy  or  possible  enemy  in  the 
rear ;  the  person  who  does  such  a  thing  must  be  either 
a  bad  strategist  or  a  genius,  and  I  am  neither." 

Retreating  a  few  paces,  I  found  and  picked  up  a 
stone  about  as  big  as  a  man's  hand,  and  hurled  it  at 
the  dangerous-looking  head  with  the  intention  of 
crushing  it ;  but  the  stone  hit  upon  the  rocky  ground 
a  little  on  one  side  of  the  mark,  and  being  soft  flew 
into  a  hundred  small  fragments.  This  roused  the 
creature's  anger,  and  in  a  moment  with  raised  head 
he  was  gliding  swiftly  towards  me.  Again  I  re- 
treated, not  so  slowly  on  this  occasion:  and  finding 
another  stone,  I  raised  and  was  about  to  launch  it 
when  a  sharp,  ringing  cry  issued  from  the  bushes 
growing  near,  and,  quickly  following  the  sound,  forth 


86  GREEN  MANSIONS 

stepped  the  forest  girl ;  no  longer  elusive  and  shy, 
vaguely  seen  in  the  shadowy  wood,  but  boldly  chal- 
lenging attention,  exposed  to  the  full  power  of  the 
meridian  sun,  which  made  her  appear  luminous  and 
rich  in  colour  beyond  example.  Seeing  her  thus,  all 
those  emotions  of  fear  and  abhorrence  invariably  ex- 
cited in  us  by  the  sight  of  an  active  venomous  serpent 
in  our  path  vanished  instantly  from  my  mind:  I 
could  now  only  feel  astonishment  and  admiration  at 
the  brilliant  being  as  she  advanced  with  swift,  easy, 
undulating  motion  towards  me;  or  rather  towards 
the  serpent,  which  was  now  between  us,  moving  more 
and  more  slowly  as  she  came  nearer.  The  cause  of 
this  sudden  wonderful  boldness,  so  unlike  her  former 
habit,  was  unmistakable.  She  had  been  watching  my 
approach  from  some  hiding-place  among  the  bushes, 
ready  no  doubt  to  lead  me  a  dance  through  the  wood 
with  her  mocking  voice,  as  on  previous  occasions, 
when  my  attack  on  the  serpent  caused  that  outburst 
of  wrath.  The  torrent  of  ringing  and  to  me  inar- 
ticulate sounds  in  that  unknown  tongue,  her  rapid 
gestures,  and  above  all  her  wide-open  sparkling  eyes 
and  face  aflame  with  colour,  made  it  impossible  to 
mistake  the  nature  of  her  feeling. 

In  casting  about  for  some  term  or  figure  of  speech 
in  which  to  describe  the  impression  produced  on  me 
at  that  moment,  I  think  of  waspish,  and,  better  still, 
avispada — literally  the  same  word  in  Spanish,  not 
having  precisely  the  same  meaning  nor  ever  applied 


GREEN  MANSIONS  87 

contemptuously — only  to  reject  both  after  a  mo- 
ment's reflection.  Yet  I  go  back  to  the  image  of  an 
irritated  wasp  as  perhaps  offering  the  best  illustra- 
tion; of  some  large  tropical  wasp  advancing  angrily 
towards  me,  as  I  have  witnessed  a  hundred  times,  not 
exactly  flying,  but  moving  rapidly,  half  running  and 
half  flying,  over  the  ground,  with  loud  and  angry 
buzz,  the  glistening  wings  open  and  agitated;  beau- 
tiful beyond  most  animated  creatures  in  its  sharp 
but  graceful  lines,  polished  surface,  and  varied  bril- 
liant colouring,  and  that  wrathfulness  that  fits  it  so 
well  and  seems  to  give  it  additional  lustre. 

Wonder-struck  at  the  sight  of  her  strange  beauty 
and  passion,  I  forgot  the  advancing  snake  until  she 
came  to  a  stop  at  about  five  yards  from  me;  then  to 
my  horror  I  saw  that  it  was  beside  her  naked  feet. 
Although  no  longer  advancing,  the  head  was  still 
raised  high  as  if  to  strike ;  but  presently  the  spirit 
of  anger  appeared  to  die  out  of  it ;  the  lifted  head, 
oscillating  a  little  from  side  to  side,  sunk  down  lower 
and  lower  to  rest  finally  on  the  girl's  bare  instep ; 
and  lying  there  motionless,  the  deadly  thing  had  the 
appearance  of  a  gaily  coloured  silken  garter  just 
dropped  from  her  leg.  It  was  plain  to  see  that  she 
had  no  fear  of  it,  that  she  was  one  of  those  excep- 
tional persons  to  be  found,  it  is  said,  in  all  countries, 
who  possess  some  magnetic  quality  which  has  a 
soothing  effect  on  even  the  most  venomous  and  irri- 
table reptiles. 


88  GREEN  MANSIONS 

Following  the  direction  of  my  eyes,  she  too  glanced 
down,  but  did  not  move  her  foot ;  then  she  made  her 
voice  heard  again,  still  loud  and  sharp,  but  the  anger 
was  not  now  so  pronounced. 

"  Do  not  fear,  I  shall  not  harm  it,"  I  said  in  the 
Indian  tongue. 

She  took  no  notice  of  my  speech,  and  continued 
speaking  with  increasing  resentment. 

I  shook  my  head,  replying  that  her  language  was 
unknown  to  me.  Then  by  means  of  signs  I  tried  to 
make  her  understand  that  the  creature  was  safe  from 
further  molestation.  She  pointed  indignantly  at  the 
stone  in  my  hand,  which  I  had  forgotten  all  about. 
At  once  I  threw  it  from  me,  and  instantly  there  was 
a  change ;  the  resentment  had  vanished,  and  a  tender 
radiance  lit  her  face  like  a  smile. 

I  advanced  a  little  nearer,  addressing  her  once 
more  in  the  Indian  tongue ;  but  my  speech  was  evi- 
dently unintelligible  to  her,  as  she  stood  now  glanc- 
ing at  the  snake  lying  at  her  feet,  now  at  me.  Again 
I  had  recourse  to  signs  and  gestures ;  pointing  to  the 
snake,  then  to  the  stone  I  had  cast  away,  I  endeav- 
oured to  convey  to  her  that  in  the  future  I  would  for 
her  sake  be  a  friend  to  all  venomous  reptiles,  and  that 
I  wished  her  to  have  the  same  kindly  feelings  to- 
wards me  as  towards  these  creatures.  Whether  or 
not  she  understood  me,  she  showed  no  disposition  to 
go  into  hiding  again,  and  continued  silently  regard- 
ing me  with  a  look  that  seemed  to  express  pleasure  at 


GREEN  MANSIONS  89 

finding  herself  at  last  thus  suddenly  brought  face  to 
face  with  me.  Flattered  at  this,  I  gradually  drew 
nearer  until  at  the  last  I  was  standing  at  her  side, 
gazing  down  with  the  utmost  delight  into  that  face 
which  so  greatly  surpassed  in  loveliness  all  human 
faces  I  had  ever  seen  or  imagined. 

And  yet  to  you,  my  friend,  it  probably  will  not 
seem  that  she  was  so  beautiful,  since  I  have,  alas ! 
only  the  words  we  all  use  to  paint  commoner,  coarser 
things,  and  no  means  to  represent  all  the  exquisite 
details,  all  the  delicate  lights,  and  shades,  and  swift 
changes  of  colour  and  expression.  Moreover,  is  it 
not  a  fact  that  the  strange  or  unheard  of  can  never 
appear  beautiful  in  a  mere  description,  because  that 
which  is  most  novel  in  it  attracts  too  much  attention 
and  is  given  undue  prominence  in  the  picture,  and 
we  miss  that  which  would  have  taken  away  the  effect 
of  strangeness — the  perfect  balance  of  the  parts  and 
harmony  of  the  whole?  For  instance,  the  blue  eyes 
of  the  northerner  would,  when  first  described  to  the 
black-eyed  inhabitants  of  warm  regions,  seem  un- 
beautiful  and  a  monstrosity,  because  they  would 
vividly  see  with  the  mental  vision  that  unheard-of 
blueness,  but  not  in  the  same  vivid  way  the  accom- 
panying flesh  and  hair  tints  with  which  it  harmonises. 

Think,  then,  less  of  the  picture  as  I  have  to  paint 
it  in  words  than  of  the  feeling  its  original  inspired 
in  me,  when  looking  closely  for  the  first  time  on  that 
rare   loveliness,   trembling   with    delight    I   mentally 


90  GREEN  MANSIONS 

cried:  "Oh,  why  has  Nature,  maker  of  so  many 
types  and  of  innumerable  individuals  of  each,  given 
to  the  world  but  one  being  like  this  ?  " 

Scarcely  had  the  thought  formed  itself  in  my  mind 
before  I  dismissed  it  as  utterly  incredible.  No,  this 
exquisite  being  was  without  doubt  one  of  a  distinct 
race  which  had  existed  in  this  little-known  corner  of 
the  continent  for  thousands  of  generations,  albeit 
now  perhaps  reduced  to  a  small  and  dwindling  rem- 
nant. 

Her  figure  and  features  were  singularly  delicate, 
but  it  was  her  colour  that  struck  me  most,  which  in- 
deed made  her  differ  from  all  other  human  beings. 
The  colour  of  the  skin  would  be  almost  impossible  to 
describe,  so  greatly  did  it  vary  with  every  change  of 
mood — and  the  moods  were  many  and  transient — 
and  with  the  angle  on  which  the  sunlight  touched  it, 
and  the  degree  of  light. 

Beneath  the  trees,  at  a  distance,  it  had  seemed  a 
somewhat  dim  white  or  pale  grey ;  near  in  the  strong 
sunshine  it  was  not  white,  but  alabastrian,  semi- 
pellucid,  showing  an  underlying  rose-colour;  and 
at  any  point  where  the  rays  fell  direct  this  col- 
our was  bright  and  luminous,  as  we  see  in  our  fin- 
gers when  held  before  a  strong  firelight.  But  that 
part  of  her  skin  that  remained  in  shadow  appeared 
of  a  dimmer  white,  and  the  underlying  colour  varied 
from  dim,  rosy  purple  to  dim  blue.  With  the  skin 
the   colour   of   the   eyes   harmonised   perfectly.     At 


GREEN  MANSIONS  91 

first,  when  lit  with  anger,  they  had  appeared  flame- 
like; now  the  iris  was  of  a  peculiar  soft  or  dim  and 
tender  red,  a  shade  sometimes  seen  in  flowers.  But 
only  when  looked  closely  at  could  this  delicate  hue  be 
discerned,  the  pupils  being  large,  as  in  some  grey 
eyes,  and  the  long,  dark,  shading  lashes  at  a  short 
distance  made  the  whole  eye  appear  dark.  Think  not, 
then,  of  the  red  flower,  exposed  to  the  light  and  sun 
in  conjunction  with  the  vivid  green  of  the  foliage; 
think  only  of  such  a  hue  in  the  half-hidden  iris,  bril- 
liant and  moist  with  the  eye's  moisture,  deep  with  the 
eye's  depth,  glorified  by  the  outward  look  of  a  bright, 
beautiful  soul.  Most  variable  of  all  in  colour  was 
the  hair,  this  being  due  to  its  extreme  fineness  and 
glossiness,  and  to  its  elasticity,  which  made  it  lie 
fleecy  and  loose  on  head,  shoulders,  and  back ;  a  cloud 
with  a  brightness  on  its  surface  made  by  the  freer 
outer  hairs,  a  fit  setting  and  crown  for  a  countenance 
of  such  rare,  changeful  loveliness.  In  the  shade> 
viewed  closely,  the  general  colour  appeared  a  slate, 
deepening  in  places  to  purple;  but  even  in  the  shade 
the  nimbus  of  free  flossy  hairs  half  veiled  the  darker 
tints  with  a  downy  pallor ;  and  at  a  distance  of  a  few 
yards  it  gave  the  whole  hair  a  vague,  misty  appear- 
ance. In  the  sunlight  the  colour  varied  more,  look- 
ing now  dark,  sometimes  intensely  black,  now  of  a 
light  uncertain  hue,  with  a  play  of  iridescent  colour 
on  the  loose  surface,  as  we  see  on  the  glossed  plumage 
of  some  birds ;  and  at  a  short  distance,  with  the  sun 


92  GREEN  MANSIONS 

shining  full  on  her  head,  it  sometimes  looked  white  as 
a  noonday  cloud.  So  changeful  was  it  and  ethereal 
in  appearance  with  its  cloud  colours,  that  all  other 
human  hair,  even  of  the  most  beautiful  golden  shades, 
pale  or  red,  seemed  heavy  and  dull  and  dead-looking 
by    comparison. 

But  more  than  form  and  colour  and  that  enchant- 
ing variability  was  the  look  of  intelligence,  which  at 
the  same  time  seemed  complementary  to  and  one  with 
the  all-seeing,  all-hearing  alertness  appearing  in  her 
face;  the  alertness  one  remarks  in  a  wild  creature, 
even  when  in  repose  and  fearing  nothing ;  but  seldom 
in  man,  never  perhaps  in  intellectual  or  studious 
man.  She  was  a  wild,  solitary  girl  of  the  woods, 
and  did  not  understand  the  language  of  the  country 
in  which  I  had  addressed  her.  What  inner  or  mind 
life  could  such  a  one  have  more  than  that  of  any  wild 
animal  existing  in  the  same  conditions?  Yet  look- 
ing at  her  face  it  was  not  possible  to  doubt  its  in- 
telligence. This  union  in  her  of  two  opposite  quali- 
ties, which,  with  us,  cannot  or  do  not  exist  together, 
although  so  novel,  yet  struck  me  as  the  girl's  prin- 
cipal charm.  Why  had  Nature  not  done  this  before 
— why  in  all  others  does  the  brightness  of  the  mind 
dim  that  beautiful  physical  brightness  which  the  wild 
animals  have?  But  enough  for  me  that  that  which 
no  man  had  ever  looked  for  or  hoped  to  find  existed 
here ;  that  through  that  unfamiliar  lustre  of  the  wild 


GREEN  MANSIONS  93 

life  shone  the  spiritualising  light  of  mind  that  made 
us  kin. 

These  thoughts  passed  swiftly  through  my  brain 
as  I  stood  feasting  my  sight  on  her  bright,  piquant 
face ;  while  she  on  her  part  gazed  back  into  my  eyes, 
not  only  with  fearless  curiosity,  but  with  a  look  of 
recognition  and  pleasure  at  the  encounter  so  unmis- 
takably friendly  that,  encouraged  by  it,  I  took  her 
arm  in  my  hand,  moving  at  the  same  time  a  little 
nearer  to  her.  At  that  moment  a  swift,  startled  ex- 
pression came  into  her  eyes ;  she  glanced  down  and 
up  again  into  my  face ;  her  lips  trembled  and  slightly 
parted  as  she  murmured  some  sorrowful  sounds  in  a 
tone  so  low  as  to  be  only  just  audible. 

Thinking  she  had  become  alarmed  and  was  on  the 
point  of  escaping  out  of  my  hands,  and  fearing, 
above  all  things,  to  lose  sight  of  her  again  so  soon, 
I  slipped  my  arm  around  her  slender  body  to  detain 
her,  moving  one  foot  at  the  same  time  to  balance 
myself;  and  at  that  moment  I  felt  a  slight  blow  and 
a  sharp  burning  sensation  shoot  into  my  leg,  so  sud- 
den and  intense  that  I  dropped  my  arm,  at  the  same 
time  uttering  a  cry  of  pain,  and  recoiled  one  or  two 
paces  from  her.  But  she  stirred  not  when  I  released 
her ;  her  eyes  followed  my  movements ;  then  she 
glanced  down  at  her  feet.  I  followed  her  look,  and 
figure  to  yourself  my  horror  when  I  saw  there  the 
serpent  I  had   so   completely   forgotten,  and  which 


94  GREEN  MANSIONS 

even  that  sting  of  sharp  pain  had  not  brought  back 
to  remembrance !  There  it  lay,  a  coil  of  its  own 
thrown  round  one  of  her  ankles,  and  its  head,  raised 
nearly  a  foot  high,  swaying  slowly  from  side  to  side, 
while  the  swift  forked  tongue  flickered  continuously. 
Then — only  then — I  knew  what  had  happened,  and 
at  the  same  time  I  understood  the  reason  of  that  sud- 
den look  of  alarm  in  her  face,  the  murmuring  sounds 
she  had  uttered,  and  the  downward  startled  glance. 
Her  fears  had  been  solely  for  my  safety,  and  she  had 
warned  me !  Too  late !  too  late  !  In  moving  I  had 
trodden  on  or  touched  the  serpent  with  my  foot,  and 
it  had  bitten  me  just  above  the  ankle.  In  a  few  mo- 
ments I  began  to  realise  the  horror  of  my  position. 
"  Must  I  die !  must  I  die !  Oh,  my  God,  is  there 
nothing  that  can  save  me?  "  I  cried  in  my  heart. 

She  was  still  standing  motionless  in  the  same 
place:  her  eyes  wandered  back  from  me  to  the  snake; 
gradually  its  swaying  head  was  lowered  again,  and 
the  coil  unwound  from  her  ankle ;  then  it  began  to 
move  away,  slowly  at  first,  and  with  the  head  a  little 
raised,  then  faster,  and  in  the  end  it  glided  out  of 
sight.  Gone ! — but  it  had  left  its  venom  in  my  blood 
— O  cursed  reptile! 

Back  from  watching  its  retreat,  my  eyes  returned 
to  her  face,  now  strangely  clouded  with  trouble ;  her 
eyes  dropped  before  mine,  while  the  palms  of  her 
hands  were  pressed  together,  and  the  ringers  clasped 
and     unclasped     alternately.     How     different     she 


GREEN  MANSIONS  95 

seemed  now;  the  brilliant  face  grown  so  pallid  and 
vague-looking!  But  not  only  because  this  tragic 
end  to  our  meeting  had  pierced  her  with  pain:  that 
cloud  in  the  west  had  grown  up  and  now  covered  half 
the  sky  with  vast  lurid  masses  of  vapour,  blotting 
out  the  sun,  and  a  great  gloom  had  fallen  on  the 
earth. 

That  sudden  twilight  and  a  long  roll  of  approach- 
ing thunder,  reverberating  from  the  hills,  increased 
my  anguish  and  desperation.  Death  at  that  mo- 
ment looked  unutterably  terrible.  The  remembrance 
of  all  that  made  life  dear  pierced  me  to  the  core — 
all  that  nature  was  to  me,  all  the  pleasures  of  sense 
and  intellect,  the  hopes  I  had  cherished — all  was  re- 
vealed to  me  as  by  a  flash  of  lightning.  Bitterest 
of  all  was  the  thought  that  I  must  now  bid  everlast- 
ing farewell  to  this  beautiful  being  I  had  found  in  the 
solitude — this  lustrous  daughter  of  the  Didi — just 
when  I  had  won  her  from  her  shyness — that  I  must 
go  away  into  the  cursed  blackness  of  death,  and  never 
know  the  mystery  of  her  life!  It  was  that  which 
utterly  unnerved  me,  and  made  my  legs  tremble  under 
me,  and  brought  great  drops  of  sweat  to  my  fore- 
head, until  I  thought  that  the  venom  was  already 
doing  its  swift,  fatal  work  in  my  veins. 

With  uncertain  steps  I  moved  to  a  stone  a  yard  or 
two  away  and  sat  down  upon  it.  As  I  did  so  the 
hope  came  to  me  that  this  girl,  so  intimate  with  na- 
ture,   might    know    of    some    antidote    to    save    me. 


96  GREEN  MANSIONS 

Touching  my  leg,  and  using  other  signs,  I  addressed 
her  again  in  the  Indian  language. 

"  The  snake  has  bitten  me,"  I  said.  "  What  shall 
I  do?  Is  there  no  leaf,  no  root  you  know  that  would 
save  me  from  death?  Help  me !  help  me !  "  I  cried  in 
despair. 

My  signs  she  probably  understood  if  not  my 
words,  but  she  made  no  reply ;  and  still  she  remained 
standing  motionless,  twisting  and  untwisting  her  fin- 
gers, and  regarding  me  with  a  look  of  ineffable  grief 
and  compassion. 

Alas!  It  was  vain  to  appeal  to  her:  she  knew 
what  had  happened,  and  what  the  result  would  most 
likely  be,  and  pitied,  but  was  powerless  to  help  me. 
Then  it  occurred  to  me  that  if  I  could  reach  the  In- 
dian village  before  the  venom  overpowered  me  some- 
thing might  be  done  to  save  me.  Oh,  why  had  I 
tarried  so  long,  losing  so  many  precious  minutes  ! 
Large  drops  of  rain  were  falling  now,  and  the  gloom 
was  deeper,  and  the  thunder  almost  continuous. 
With  a  cry  of  anguish  I  started  to  my  feet,  and  was 
about  to  rush  away  towards  the  village  when  a  daz- 
zling flash  of  lightning  made  me  pause  for  a  moment. 
When  it  vanished  I  turned  a  last  look  on  the  girl,  and 
her  face  was  deathly  pale,  and  her  hair  looked  blacker 
than  night;  and  as  she  looked  she  stretched  out  her 
arms  towards  me  and  uttered  a  low,  wailing  cry. 
"  Good-bye  for  ever !  "  I  murmured,  and  turning  once 
more  from  her,  rushed  away  like  one  crazed  into  the 


GREEN  MANSIONS  97 

wood.  But  in  my  confusion  I  had  probably  taken 
the  wrong  direction,  for  instead  of  coming  out  in  a 
few  minutes  into  the  open  border  of  the  forest,  and 
on  to  the  savannah,  I  found  myself  every  moment 
getting  deeper  among  the  trees.  I  stood  still,  per- 
plexed, but  could  not  shake  off  the  conviction  that  I 
had  started  in  the  right  direction.  Eventually  I  re- 
solved to  keep  on  for  a  hundred  yards  or  so,  and  then, 
if  no  opening  appeared,  to  turn  back  and  retrace  my 
steps.  But  this  was  no  easy  matter.  I  soon  became 
entangled  in  a  dense  undergrowth,  which  so  confused 
me  that  at  last  I  confessed  despairingly  to  myself 
that  for  the  first  time  in  this  wood  I  was  hopelessly 
lost.  And  in  what  terrible  circumstances !  At  inter- 
vals a  flash  of  lightning  would  throw  a  vivid  blue 
glare  down  into  the  interior  of  the  wood  and  only 
serve  to  show  that  I  had  lost  myself  in  a  place  where 
even  at  noon  in  cloudless  weather  progress  would  be 
most  difficult;  and  now  the  light  would  only  last  a 
moment,  to  be  followed  by  thick  gloom;  and  I  could 
only  tear  blindly  on,  bruising  and  lacerating  my  flesh 
at  every  step,  falling  again  and  again  only  to  strug- 
gle up  and  on  again,  now  high  above  the  surface 
climbing  over  prostrate  trees  and  branches,  now 
plunged  to  my  middle  in  a  pool  or  torrent  of  water. 
Hopeless — utterly  hopeless  seemed  all  my  mad  ef- 
forts ;  and  at  each  pause,  when  I  would  stand  ex- 
hausted, gasping  for  breath,  my  throbbing  heart  al- 
most suffocating  me,  a  dull*  continuous,  teasing  pain 


98  GREEN  MANSIONS 

in  my  bitten  leg  served  to  remind  me  that  I  had  but 
a  little  time  left  to  exist — that  by  delaying  at  first  I 
had  allowed  my  only  chance  of  salvation  to  slip  by. 

How  long  a  time  I  spent  fighting  my  way  through 
this  dense  black  wood  I  know  not;  perhaps  two  or 
three  hours,  only  to  me  the  hours  seemed  like  years 
of  prolonged  agony.  At  last,  all  at  once,  I  found 
that  I  was  free  of  the  close  undergrowth,  and  walking 
on  level  ground:  but  it  was  darker  here — darker  than 
the  darkest  night;  and  at  length,  when  the  lightning 
came  and  flared  down  through  the  dense  roof  of  foli- 
age overhead,  I  discovered  that  I  was  in  a  spot  that 
had  a  strange  look,  where  the  trees  were  very  large 
and  grew  wide  apart,  and  with  no  undergrowth  to 
impede  progress  beneath  them.  Here,  recovering 
breath,  I  began  to  run,  and  after  a  while  found  that 
I  had  left  the  large  trees  behind  me,  and  was  now  in  a 
more  open  place,  with  small  trees  and  bushes :  and 
this  made  me  hope  for  a  while  that  I  had  at  last 
reached  the  border  of  the  forest.  But  the  hope 
proved  vain;  once  more  I  had  to  force  my  way 
through  dense  undergrowth,  and  finally  emerged  on 
to  a  slope  where  it  was  open,  and  I  could  once  more 
see  for  some  distance  around  me  by  such  light  as 
came  through  the  thick  pall  of  clouds.  Trudging  on 
to  the  summit  of  the  slope,  I  saw  that  there  was  open 
savannah  country  beyond,  and  for  a  moment  rejoiced 
that  I  had  got  free  from  the  forest.  A  few  steps 
more,  and  I  was  standing  on  the  very  edge  of  a  bank, 


GREEN  MANSIONS  99 

a  precipice  not  less  than  fifty  feet  deep.  I  had  never 
seen  that  bank  before,  and  therefore  knew  that  I 
could  not  be  on  the  right  side  of  the  forest.  But 
now  my  only  hope  was  to  get  completely  away  from 
the  trees  and  then  to  look  for  the  village,  and  I  began 
following  the  bank  in  search  of  a  descent.  No  break 
occurred,  and  presently  I  was  stopped  by  a  dense 
thicket  of  bushes.  I  was  about  to  retrace  my  steps 
when  I  noticed  that  a  tall  slender  tree  growing  at 
the  foot  of  the  precipice,  its  green  top  not  more  than 
a  couple  of  yards  below  my  feet,  seemed  to  offer  a 
means  of  escape.  Nerving  myself  with  the  thought 
that  if  I  got  crushed  by  the  fall  I  should  probably 
escape  a  lingering  and  far  more  painful  death,  I 
dropped  into  the  cloud  of  foliage  beneath  me  and 
clutched  desperately  at  the  twigs  as  I  fell.  For  a 
moment  I  felt  myself  sustained;  but  branch  after 
branch  gave  way  beneath  ray  weight,  and  then  I  only 
remember,  very  dimly,  a  swift  flight  through  the  air 
before  losing  consciousness. 


CHAPTER  VII 

WITH  the  return  of  consciousness,  I  at  first 
had  a  vague  impression  that  I  was  lying 
somewhere,  injured,  and  incapable  of  motion;  that  it 
was  night,  and  necessary  for  me  to  keep  my  eyes  fast 
shut  to  prevent  them  from  being  blinded  by  almost 
continuous  vivid  flashes  of  lightning.  Injured,  and 
sore  all  over,  but  warm  and  dry — surely  dry :  nor  was 
it  lightning  that  dazzled,  but  firelight.  I  began  to 
notice  things  little  by  little.  The  fire  was  burning 
on  a  clay  floor  a  few  feet  from  where  I  was  lying. 
Before  it,  on  a  log  of  wood,  sat  or  crouched  a  human 
figure.  An  old  man,  with  chin  on  breast  and  hands 
clasped  before  his  drawn-up  knees ;  only  a  small  por- 
tion of  his  forehead  and  nose  visible  to  me.  An  In- 
dian I  took  him  to  be,  from  his  coarse,  lank,  grey 
hair  and  dark  brown  skin.  I  was  in  a  large  hut, 
falling  at  the  sides  to  within  two  feet  of  the  floor: 
but  there  were  no  hammocks  in  it,  nor  bows  and 
spears,  and  no  skins,  not  even  under  me,  for  I  was 
lying  on  straw  mats.  I  could  hear  the  storm  still 
raging  outside;  the  rush  and  splash  of  rain,  and,  at 
intervals,  the  distant  growl  of  thunder.     There  was 

wind,  too;  I  listened  to  it  sobbing  in  the  trees,  and 

100 


GREEN  MANSIONS  101 

occasionally  a  puff  found  its  way  in,  and  blew  up  the 
white  ashes  at  the  old  man's  feet,  and  shook  the  yel- 
low flames  like  a  flag.  I  remembered  now  how  the 
storm  began,  the  wild  girl,  the  snake-bite,  my  violent 
efforts  to  find  a  way  out  of  the  woods,  and,  finally, 
that  leap  from  the  bank  where  recollection  ended. 
That  I  had  not  been  killed  by  the  venomous  tooth, 
nor  the  subsequent  fearful  fall,  seemed  like  a  miracle 
to  me.  And -in  that  wild,  solitary  place,  lying  in- 
sensible, in  that  awful  storm  and  darkness,  I  had 
been  found  by  a  fellow-creature — a  savage,  doubt- 
less, but  a  good  Samaritan  all  the  same — who  had 
rescued  me  from  death !  I  was  bruised  all  over  and 
did  not  attempt  to  move,  fearing  the  pain  it  would 
give  me ;  and  I  had  a  racking  headache ;  but  these 
seemed  trifling  discomforts  after  such  adventures  and 
such  perils.  I  felt  that  I  had  recovered  or  was  re- 
covering from  that  venomous  bite;  that  I  would  live 
and  not  die — live  to  return  to  my  country ;  and  the 
thought  filled  my  heart  to  overflowing,  and  tears  of 
gratitude  and  happiness  rose  to  my  eyes. 

At  such  times  a  man  experiences  benevolent  feel- 
ings, and  would  willingly  bestow  some  of  that  over- 
plus of  happiness  on  his  fellows  to  lighten  other 
hearts ;  and  this  old  man  before  me,  who  was  prob- 
ably the  instrument  of  my  salvation,  began  greatly 
to  excite  my  interest  and  compassion.  For  he 
seemed  so  poor  in  his  old  age  and  rags,  so  solitary 
and  dejected  as  he  sat  there  with  knees  drawn  up, 


102  GREEN  MANSIONS 

his  great,  brown,  bare  feet  looking  almost  black  by 
contrast  with  the  white  wood-ashes  about  them ! 
What  could  I  do  for  him?  What  could  I  say  to 
cheer  his  spirits  in  that  Indian  language,  which  has 
few  or  no  words  to  express  kindly  feelings?  Unable 
to  think  of  anything  better  to  say,  I  at  length  sud- 
denly cried  aloud,  "  Smoke,  old  man !  Why  do  you 
not  smoke?     It  is  good  to  smoke." 

He  gave  a  mighty  start,  and,  turning,  fixed  his 
eyes  on  me.  Then  I  saw  that  he  was  not  a  pure  In- 
dian, for  although  as  brown  as  old  leather,  he  wore  a 
beard  and  moustache.  A  curious  face  had  this  old 
man,  which  looked  as  if  youth  and  age  had  made  it 
a  battling  ground.  His  forehead  was  smooth,  ex- 
cept for  two  parallel  lines  in  the  middle  running  its 
entire  length,  dividing  it  in  zones ;  his  arched  eye- 
brows were  black  as  ink,  and  his  small  black  eyes 
were  bright  and  cunning,  like  the  eyes  of  some  wild 
carnivorous  animal.  In  this  part  of  his  face  youth 
had  held  its  own,  especially  in  the  eyes,  which  looked 
young  and  lively.  But  lower  down  age  had  con- 
quered, scribbling  his  skin  all  over  with  wrinkles, 
while  moustache  and  beard  were  white  as  thistle- 
down. 

"  Aha,  the  dead  man  is  alive  again !  "  he  exclaimed, 
with  a  chuckling  laugh.  This  in  the  Indian  tongue ; 
then  in  Spanish  he  added,  "  But  speak  to  me  in  the 
language  you  know  best,  senor ;  for  if  you  are  not  a 
Venezuelan  call  me  an  owl." 


GREEN  MANSIONS  103 

"And  you,  old  man?"  said  I. 

"  Ah,  I  was  right !  Why,  sir,  what  I  am  is  plainly 
written  on  my  face.  Surely  you  do  not  take  me  for 
a  pagan!  I  might  be  a  black  man  from  Africa,  or 
an  Englishman,  but  an  Indian — that,  no!  But  a 
minute  ago  you  had  the  goodness  to  invite  me  to 
smoke.  How,  sir,  can  a  poor  man  smoke  who  is 
without  tobacco?" 

"  Without  tobacco — in  Guayana  !  " 

"  Can  you  believe  it  ?  But,  sir,  do  not  blame 
me ;  if  the  beast  that  came  one  night  and  destroyed 
my  plants  when  ripe  for  cutting  had  taken  pump- 
kins and  sweet  potatoes  instead,  it  would  have  been 
better  for  him,  if  curses  have  any  effect.  And  the 
plant  grows  slowly,  sir — it  is  not  an  evil  weed  to 
come  to  maturity  in  a  single  day.  And  as  for  other 
leaves  in  the  forest,  I  smoke  them,  yes;  but  there  is 
no  comfort  to  the  lungs  in  such  smoke." 

"  My  tobacco-pouch  was  full,"  I  said.  "  You  will 
find  it  in  my  coat,  if  I  did  not  lose  it." 

"  The  saints  forbid !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  Grandchild 
— Rima,  have  you  got  a  tobacco-pouch  with  the  other 
things?     Give  it  to  me." 

Then  I  first  noticed  that  another  person  was  in  the 
hut,  a  slim  young  girl,  who  had  been  seated  against 
the  wall  on  the  other  side  of  the  fire,  partially  hid 
by  the  shadows.  She  had  my  leather  belt,  with  the 
revolver  in  its  case,  and  my  hunting-knife  attached, 
and  the  few  articles  I  had  had  in  my  pockets,  on  her 


104  GREEN  MANSIONS 

lap.  Taking  up  the  pouch,  she  handed  it  to  him, 
and  he  clutched  it  with  a  strange  eagerness. 

"  I  will  give  it  back  presently,  Rima,"  he  said. 
"  Let  me  first  smoke  a  cigarette — and  then  another." 

It  seemed  probable  from  this  that  the  good  old 
man  had  already  been  casting  covetous  eyes  on  my 
property,  and  that  his  granddaughter  had  taken 
care  of  it  for  me.  But  how  the  silent,  demure  girl 
had  kept  it  from  him  was  a  puzzle,  so  intensely  did 
he  seem  now  to  enjoy  it,  drawing  the  smoke  vigor- 
ously into  his  lungs,  and  after  keeping  it  ten  or  fif- 
teen seconds  there,  letting  it  fly  out  again  from 
mouth  and  nose  in  blue  jets  and  clouds.  His  face 
softened  visibly,  he  became  more  and  more  genial 
and  loquacious,  and  asked  me  how  I  came  to  be  in 
that  solitary  place.  I  told  him  that  I  was  staying 
with  the  Indian  Runi,  his  neighbour. 

"  But,  senor,"  he  said,  "  if  it  is  not  an  imperti- 
nence, how  is  it  that  a  young  man  of  so  distinguished 
an  appearance  as  yourself,  a  Venezuelan,  should  be 
residing  with  these  children  of  the  devil?  " 

"  You  love  not  your  neighbours,  then?  " 

"  I  know  them,  sir — how  should  I  love  them  ?  " 
He  was  rolling  up  his  second  or  third  cigarette  by 
this  time,  and  I  could  not  help  noticing  that  he  took 
a  great  deal  more  tobacco  than  he  required  in  his 
fingers,  and  that  the  surplus  on  each  occasion  was 
conveyed  to  some  secret  receptacle  among  his  rags. 


GREEN  MANSIONS  105 

"  Love  them,  sir !  They  are  infidels,  and  therefore 
the  good  Christian  must  only  hate  them.  They  are 
thieves — they  will  steal  from  you  before  your  ver}r 
face,  so  devoid  are  they  of  all  shame.  And  -also 
murderers ;  gladly  would  they  burn  this  poor  thatch 
above  my  head,  and  kill  me  and  my  poor  grandchild, 
who  shares  this  solitary  life  with  me,  if  they  had  the 
courage.  But  they  are  all  arrant  cowards,  and  fear 
to  approach  me — fear  even  to  come  into  this  wood. 
You  would  laugh  to  hear  what  they  are  afraid  of — 
a  child  would  laugh  to  hear  it !  " 

"  What  do  they  fear?  "  I  said,  for  his  words  had 
excited  my  interest  in  a  great  degree. 

"  Why,  sir,  would  you  believe  it  ?  They  fear  this 
child — my  granddaughter,  seated  there  before  you. 
A  poor  innocent  girl  of  seventeen  summers,  a  Chris- 
tian who  knows  her  Catechism,  and  would  not  harm 
the  smallest  thing  that  God  has  made — no,  not  a 
fly,  which  is  not  regarded  on  account  of  its  small- 
ness.  Why,  sir,  it  is  due  to  her  tender  heart  that 
you  are  safely  sheltered  here,  instead  of  being  left 
out  of  doors  in  this  tempestuous  night." 

"  To  her — to  this  girl  ?  "  I  returned  in  astonish- 
ment. "  Explain,  old  man,  for  I  do  not  know  how  I 
was  saved." 

"  To-day,  senor,  through  your  own  heedlessness 
you  were  bitten  by  a  venomous  snake." 

"  Yes,  that  is  true,  although  I  do  not  know  how  it 


106  GREEN  MANSIONS 

came  to  your  knowledge.  But  why  am  I  not  a  dead 
man,  then — have  you  done  something  to  save  me  from 
the  effects  of  the  poison?" 

"  Nothing.  What  could  I  do  so  long  after  you 
were  bitten?  When  a  man  is  bitten  by  a  snake  in  a 
solitary  place  he  is  in  God's  hands.  He  will  live 
or  die  as  God  wills.  There  is  nothing  to  be  done. 
But  surely,  sir,  you  remember  that  my  poor  grand- 
child was  with  you  in  the  wood  when  the  snake  bit 
you  ?  " 

"  A  girl  was  there — a  strange  girl  I  have  seen  and 
heard  before  when  I  have  walked  in  the  forest.  But 
not  this  girl — surely  not  this  girl !  " 

"  No  other,"  said  he,  carefully  rolling  up  another 
cigarette. 

"  It  is  not  possible !  "  I  returned. 

"  111  would  you  have  fared,  sir,  had  she  not  been 
there.  For  after  being  bitten,  you  rushed  away  into 
the  thickest  part  of  the  wood,  and  went  about  in  a 
circle  like  a  demented  person  for  Heaven  knows  how 
long.  But  she  never  left  you;  she  was  always  close 
to  you — you  might  have  touched  har  with  your  hand. 
And  at  last  some  good  angel  who  was  watching  you, 
in  order  to  stop  your  career,  made  you  mad  alto- 
gether and  caused  you  to  jump  over  a  precipice  and 
lose  your  senses.  And  you  were  no  sooner  on  the 
ground  than  she  was  with  you — ask  me  not  how  she 
got  down!  And  when  she  had  propped  you  up 
against  the  bank  she  came  for  me.     Fortunately  the 


GREEN  MANSIONS  107 

spot  where  you  had  fallen  is  near — not  five  hundred 
yards  from  the  door.  And  I,  on  my  part,  was  will- 
ing to  assist  her  in  saving  you ;  for  I  knew  it  was  no 
Indian  that  had  fallen,  since  she  loves  not  that  breed, 
and  they  come  not  here.  It  was  not  an  easy  task, 
for  you  weigh,  senor ;  but  between  us  we  brought  you 
in." 

While  he  spoke  the  girl  continued  sitting  in  the 
same  listless  attitude  as  when  I  first  observed  her, 
with  eyes  cast  down  and  hands  folded  in  her  lap. 
Recalling  that  brilliant  being  in  the  wood  that  had 
protected  the  serpent  from  me,  and  calmed  its  rage, 
I  found  it  hard  to  believe  his  words,  and  still  felt  a 
little  incredulous. 

"  Rima — that  is  your  name,  is  it  not  ?  "  I  said. 
"  Will  you  come  here  and  stand  before  me,  and  let 
me  look  closely  at  you  ?  " 

"  Si,  senor,"  she  meekly  answered ;  and  removing 
the  things  from  her  lap  she  stood  up;  then,  passing 
behind  the  old  man,  came  and  stood  before  me, 
her  eyes  still  bent  on  the  ground — a  picture  of  humil- 
ity.  " 

She  had  the  figure  of  the  forest  girl,  but  wore  now 
a  scanty  faded  cotton  garment,  while  the  loose  cloud 
of  hair  was  confined  in  two  plaits  and  hung  down 
her  back.  The  face  also  showed  the  same  delicate 
lines,  but  of  the  brilliant  animation  and  variable 
colour  and  expression  there  appeared  no  trace. 
Gazing  at  her  countenance,  as  she  stood  there  silent, 


108  GREEN  MANSIONS 

shy,  and  spiritless  before  me,  the  image  of  her 
brighter  self  came  vividly  to  my  mind,  and  I  could 
not  recover  from  the  astonishment  I  felt  at  such  a 
contrast. 

Have  you  ever  observed  a  humming-bird  moving 
about  in  an  aerial  dance  among  the  flowers — a  liv- 
ing prismatic  gem  that  changes  its  colour  with  every 
change  of  position — how  in  turning  it  catches  the 
sunshine  on  its  burnished  neck  and  gorget  plumes — 
green  and  gold  and  flame-coloured,  the  beams  chang- 
ing to  visible  flakes  as  they  fall,  dissolving  into  noth- 
ing, to  be  succeeded  by  others  and  yet  others?  In 
its  exquisite  form,  its  changeful  splendour,  its  swift 
motions  and  intervals  of  aerial  suspension,  it  is  a 
creature  of  such  fairy-like  loveliness  as  to  mock  all 
description.  And  have  you  seen  this  same  fairy-like 
creature  suddenly  perch  itself  on  a  twig,  in  the  shade, 
its  misty  wings  and  fanlike  tail  folded,  the  irides- 
cent glory  vanished,  looking  like  some  common  dull- 
plumaged  little  bird  sitting  listless  in  a  cage?  Just 
so  great  was  the  difference  in  the  girl,  as  I  had  seen 
her  in  the  forest  and  as  she  now  appeared  under  the 
smoky  roof  in  the  firelight. 

After  watching  her  for  some  moments  I  spoke: 
"  Rima,  there  must  be  a  good  deal  of  strength  in 
that  frame  of  yours,  which  looks  so  delicate;  will 
you  raise  me  up  a  little?  " 

She  went  down  on  one  knee,  and  placing  her  arms 
round  me  assisted  me  to  a  sitting  posture. 


GREEN  MANSIONS  109 

"  Thank  you,  Rima — O  misery  !  "  I  groaned.  "  Is 
there  a  bone  left  unbroken  in  my  poor  body?  " 

"  Nothing  broken,"  cried  the  old  man,  clouds  of 
smoke  flying  out  with  his  words.  "  I  have  examined 
you  well — legs,  arms,  ribs.  For  this  is  how  it  was, 
senor.  A  thorny  bush  into  which  you  fell  saved  you 
from  being  flattened  on  the  stony  ground.  But  you 
are  bruised,  sir,  black  with  bruises ;  and  there  are 
more  scratches  of  thorns  on  your  skin  than  letters 
on  a  written  page." 

"  A  long  thorn  might  have  entered  my  brain,"  I 
said,  "  from  the  way  it  pains.  Feel  my  forehead, 
Rima ;  is  it  very  hot  and  dry  ?  " 

She  did  as  I  asked,  touching  me  lightly  with  her 
little  cool  hand.  "  No,  senor,  not  hot,  but  warm  and 
moist,"  she  said. 

"Thank  Heaven  for  that!"  I  said.  "Poor  girl! 
And  you  followed  me  through  the  wood  in  all  that 
terrible  storm !  Ah,  if  I  could  lift  my  bruised  arm 
I  would  take  your  hand  to  kiss  it  in  gratitude  for  so 
great  a  service.  I  owe  you  my  life,  sweet  Rima — 
what  shall  I  do  to  repay  so  great  a  debt?  " 

The  old  man  chuckled  as  if  amused,  but  the  girl 
lifted  not  her  eyes  nor  spoke. 

"  Tell  me,  sweet  child,"  I  said,  "  for  I  cannot  re- 
alize it  yet ;  was  it  really  you  that  saved  the  serpent's 
life  when  I  would  have  killed  it — did  }^ou  stand  by 
me  in  the  wood  with  the  serpent  lying  at  your  feet?  " 

"  Yes,  senor,"  came  her  gentle  answer. 


110  GREEN  MANSIONS 

"  And  it  was  you  I  saw  in  the  wood  one  day,  lying 
on  the  ground  playing  with  a  small  bird?  " 

"  Yes,  seiior." 

"  And  it  was  you  that  followed  me  so  often  among 
the  trees,  calling  to  me,  yet  always  hiding  so  that  I 
could  never  see  you?  " 

"  Yes,  senor." 

"  Oh,  this  is  wonderful !  "  I  exclaimed ;  whereat  the 
old  man  chuckled  again. 

"  But  tell  me  this,  my  sweet  girl,"  I  continued. 
"  You  never  addressed  me  in  Spanish ;  what  strange 
musical  language  was  it  you  spoke  to  me  in?  " 

She  shot  a  timid  glance  at  my  face  and  looked 
troubled  at  the  question,  but  made  no  reply. 

"  Senor,"  said  the  old  man,  "  that  is  a  question 
which  you  roust  excuse  my  child  from  answering. 
Not,  sir,  from  want  of  will,  for  she  is  docile  and  obe- 
dient, though  I  say  it,  but  there  is  no  answer  beyond 
what  I  can  tell  you.  And  this  is,  sir,  that  all  crea- 
tures, whether  man  or  bird,  have  the  voice  that  God 
has  given  them ;  and  in  some  the  voice  is  musical  and 
in  others  not  so." 

"  Very  well,  old  man,"  said  I  to  myself ;  "  there  let 
the  matter  rest  for  the  present.  But,  if  I  am  des- 
tined to  live  and  not  die,  I  shall  not  long  remain  sat- 
isfied with  your  too  simple  explanation." 

"  Rima,"  I  said,  "  you  must  be  fatigued ;  it  is 
thoughtless  of  me  to  keep  you  standing  here  so  long." 

Her  face  brightened  a  little,  and  bending  down  she 


GREEN  MANSIONS  111 

replied  in  a  low  voice,  "  I  am  not  fatigued,  sir.  Let 
me  get  you  something  to  eat  now." 

She  moved  quickly  away  to  the  fire,  and  presently 
returned  with  an  earthenware  dish  of  roasted  pump- 
kin and  sweet  potatoes,  and  kneeling  at  my  side  fed 
me  deftly  with  a  small  wooden  spoon.  I  did  not  feel 
grieved  at  the  absence  of  meat  and  the  stinging  con- 
diments the  Indians  love,  nor  did  I  even  remark  that 
there  was  no  salt  in  the  vegetables,  so  much  was  I 
taken  up  with  watching  her  beautiful  delicate  face 
while  she  ministered  to  me.  The  exquisite  fragrance 
of  her  breath  was  more  to  me  than  the  most  delicious 
viands  could  have  been ;  and  it  was  a  delight  each 
time  she  raised  the  spoon  to  my  mouth  to  catch  a 
momentary  glimpse  of  her  eyes,  which  now  looked 
dark  as  wine  when  we  lift  the  glass  to  see  the  ruby 
gleam  of  light  within  the  purple.  But  she  never  for 
a  moment  laid  aside  the  silent,  meek,  constrained  man- 
ner; and  when  I  remembered  her  bursting  out  in  her 
brilliant  wrath  on  me,  pouring  forth  that  torrent  of 
stinging  invective  in  her  mysterious  language,  I  was 
lost  in  wonder  and  admiration  at  the  change  in  her, 
and  at  her  double  personality.  Having  satisfied  my 
wants  she  moved  quietly  away,  and  raising  a  straw 
mat  disappeared  behind  it  into  her  own  sleeping- 
apartment,  which  was  divided  off  by  a  partition  from 
the  room  I  was  in. 

The  old  man's  sleeping-place  was  a  wooden  cot  or 
stand  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  room,  but  he  was  in 


112  GREEN  MANSIONS 

no  hurry  to  sleep,  and  after  Rima  had  left  us  put  a 
fresh  log  on  the  blaze,  and  lit  another  cigarette. 
Heaven  knows  how  many  he  had  smoked  by  this  time. 
He  became  very  talkative  and  called  to  his  side  his 
two  dogs,  which  I  had  not  noticed  in  the  room  before, 
for  me  to  see.  It  amused  me  to  hear  their  names — 
Susio  and  Goloso:  Dirty  and  Greedy.  They  were 
surly-looking  brutes,  with  rough  yellow  hair,  and 
did  not  win  my  heart,  but  according  to  his  account 
they  possessed  all  the  usual  canine  virtues ;  and  he 
was  still  holding  forth  on  the  subject  when  I  fell 
asleep. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

WHEN  morning  came  I  was  too  stiff  and  sore 
to  move,  and  not  until  the  following  day  was 
I  able  to  creep  out  to  sit  in  the  shade  of  the  trees. 
My  old  host,  whose  name  was  Nuflo,  went  off  with 
his  dogs,  leaving  the  girl  to  attend  to  my  wants. 
Two  or  three  times  during  the  day  she  appeared  to 
serve  me  with  food  and  drink,  but  she  continued  silent 
and  constrained  in  manner  as  on  the  first  evening  of 
seeing  her  in  the  hut. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  old  Nuflo  returned,  but  did 
not  say  where  he  had  been ;  and  shortly  afterwards 
Rima  reappeared,  demure  as  usual,  in  her  faded  cot- 
ton dress,  her  cloud  of  hair  confined  in  two  long 
plaits.  My  curiosity  was  more  excited  than  ever, 
and  I  resolved  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  the  mystery  of 
her  life.  The  girl  had  not  shown  herself  responsive, 
but  now  that  Nuflo  was  back  I  was  treated  to  as  much 
talk  as  I  cared  to  hear.  He  talked  of  many  things, 
only  omitting  those  which  I  desired  to  hear  about; 
but  his  pet  subject  appeared  to  be  the  divine  govern- 
ment of  the  world — "  God's  politics  " — and  its  mani- 
fest imperfections,  or  in  other  words,  the  manifold 

abuses  which  from  time  to  time  had  been  allowed  to 

113 


114  GREEN  MANSIONS 

creep  into  it.  The  old  man  was  pious,  but  like  many 
of  his  class  in  my  country,  he  permitted  himself  to 
indulge  in  very  free  criticisms  of  the  powers  above, 
from  the  King  of  Heaven  down  to  the  smallest  saint 
whose  name  figures  in  the  calendar. 

"  These  things,  senor,"  he  said,  "  are  not  properly 
managed.  Consider  my  position.  Here  am  I  com- 
pelled for  my  sins  to  inhabit  this  wilderness  with  my 
poor  granddaughter " 

"  She  is  not  your  granddaughter !  "  I  suddenly  in- 
terrupted, thinking  to  surprise  him  into  an  admis- 
sion. 

But  he  took  his  time  to  answer.  "  Senor,  we  are 
never  sure  of  anything  in  this  world.  Not  absolutely 
sure.  Thus,  it  may  come  to  pass  that  you  will  one 
day  marry,  and  that  your  wife  will  in  due  time  pre- 
sent you  with  a  son — one  that  will  inherit  your  for- 
tune and  transmit  your  name  to  posterity.  And  yet, 
sir,  in  this  world,  you  will  never  know  to  a  certainty 
that  he  is  your  son." 

"  Proceed  with  what  you  were  saying,"  I  returned, 
with  some  dignity. 

"  Here  we  are,"  he  continued,  "  compelled  to  in- 
habit this  land  and  do  not  meet  with  proper  protec- 
tion from  the  infidel.  Now,  sir,  this  is  a  crying  evil, 
and  it  is  only  becoming  in  one  who  has  the  true  faith, 
and  is  a  loyal  subject  of  the  All-Powerful,  to  point 
out  with  due  humility  that  He  is  growing  very  remiss 
in  His  affairs,  and  is  losing  a  good  deal  of  His  pres- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  115 

tige.  And  what,  senor,  is  at  the  bottom  of  it? 
Favoritism.  We  know  that  the  Supreme  cannot 
Himself  be  everywhere,  attending  to  each  little  trike- 
traka  that  arises  in  the  world — matters  altogether 
beneath  His  notice ;  and  that  He  must,  like  the  Presi- 
dent of  Venezuela  or  the  Emperor  of  Brazil,  appoint 
men — angels  if  you  like — to  conduct  His  affairs  and 
watch  over  each  district.  And  it  is  manifest  that  for 
this  country  of  Guayana  the  proper  person  has  not 
been  appointed.  Every  evil  is  done  and  there  is  no 
remedy,  and  the  Christian  has  no  more  consideration 
shown  him  than  the  infidel.  Now,  senor,  in  a  town 
near  the  Orinoco  I  once  saw  on  a  church  the  arch- 
angel Michael,  made  of  stone,  and  twice  as  tall  as  a 
man,  with  one  foot  on  a  monster  shaped  like  a  cay- 
man, but  with  bat's  wings,  and  a  head  and  neck  like  a 
serpent.  Into  this  monster  he  was  thrusting  his  spear. 
That  is  the  kind  of  person  that  should  be  sent  to  rule 
these  latitudes — a  person  of  firmness  and  resolution, 
with  strength  in  his  wrist.  And  yet  it  is  probable 
that  this  very  man — this  St.  Michael — is  hanging 
about  the  palace,  twirling  his  thumbs,  waiting  for 
an  appointment,  while  other  weaker  men,  and — ■ 
Heaven  forgive  me  for  sajnng  it — not  above  a  bribe, 
perhaps,  are  sent  out  to  rule  over  this  province." 

On  this  string  he  would  harp  by  the  hour;  it  was 
a  lofty  subject  on  which  he  had  pondered  much  in  his 
solitary  life,  and  he  was  glad  of  an  opportunity  of 
ventilating  his  grievance  and  expounding  his  views. 


116  GREEN  MANSIONS 

At  first  it  was  a  pure  pleasure  to  hear  Spanish  again, 
and  the  old  man,  albeit  ignorant  of  letters,  spoke 
well ;  but  this,  I  may  say,  is  a  common  thing  in  our 
country,  where  the  peasant's  quickness  of  intelligence 
and  poetic  feeling  often  compensate  for  want  of  in- 
struction. His  views  also  amused  me,  although  they 
were  not  novel.  But  after  a  while  I  grew  tired  of 
listening,  yet  I  listened  still,  agreeing  with  him,  and 
leading  him  on  to  let  him  have  his  fill  of  talk,  always 
hoping  that  he  would  come  at  last  to  speak  of  per- 
sonal matters  and  give  me  an  account  of  his  history 
and  of  Rima's  origin.  But  the  hope  proved  vain ; 
not  a  word  to  enlighten  me  would  he  drop,  however 
cunningly  I  tempted  him. 

"  So  be  it,"  thought  I ;  "  but  if  you  are  cunning, 
old  man,  I  shall  be  cunning  too — and  patient ;  for  all 
things  come  to  him  who  waits." 

He  was  in  no  hurry  to  get  rid  of  me.  On  the  con- 
trary, he  more  than  hinted  that  I  would  be  safer 
under  his  roof  than  with  the  Indians,  at  the  same 
time  apologising  for  not  giving  me  meat  to  eat. 

"  But  why  do  you  not  have  meat?  Never  have 
I  seen  animals  so  abundant  and  tame  as  in  this 
wood." 

Before  he  could  reply  Rima,  with  a  jug  of  water 
from  the  spring  in  her  hand,  came  in ;  glancing  at 
me  he  lifted  his  finger  to  signify  that  such  a  subject 
must  not  be  discussed  in  her  presence ;  but  as  soon  as 
she  quitted  the  room  he  returned  to  it. 


GREEN  MANSIONS  117 

"  Seiior,"  he  said,  "  have  you  forgotten  your  ad- 
venture with  the  snake?  Know,  then,  that  my 
grandchild  would  not  live  with  me  for  one  day  longer 
if  I  were  to  lift  my  hand  against  any  living  creature. 
For  us,  senor,  every  day  is  fast-day — only  without 
the  fish.  We  have  maize,  pumpkin,  cassava,  pota- 
toes, and  these  suffice.  And  even  of  these  cultivated 
fruits  of  the  earth  she  eats  but  little  in  the  house, 
preferring  certain  wild  berries  and  gums,  which  are 
more  to  her  taste,  and  which  she  picks  here  and  there 
in  her  rambles  in  the  wood.  And  I,  sir,  loving  her 
as  I  do,  whatever  my  inclination  may  be,  shed  no 
blood  and  eat  no  flesh." 

I  looked  at  him  with  an  incredulous  smile. 

"And  your  dogs,  old  man?" 

"  My  dogs  ?  Sir,  they  would  not  pause  or  turn 
aside  if  a  coatimundi  crossed  their  path — an  animal 
with  a  strong  odour.  As  a  man  is,  so  is  his  dog. 
Have  you  not  seen  dogs  eating  grass,  sir,  even  in 
Venezuela,  where  these  sentiments  do  not  prevail? 
And  when  there  is  no  meat — when  meat  is  forbidden 
— these  sagacious  animals  accustom  themselves  to  a 
vegetable  diet." 

I  could  not  very  well  tell  the  old  man  that  he  was 
lying  to  me — that  would  have  been  bad  policy — and 
so  I  passed  it  off.  "  I  have  no  doubt  that  you  are 
right,"  I  said.  "  I  have  heard  that  there  are  dogs 
in  China  that  eat  no  meat,  but  are  themselves  eaten 
by    their   owners    after   being   fattened    on    rice.     I 


118  GREEN  MANSIONS 

should  not  care  to  dine  on  one  of  jour  animals,  old 
man." 

He  looked  at  them  critically  and  replied,  "  Cer- 
tainly they  are  lean." 

"  I  was  thinking  less  of  their  leanness  than  of  their 
smell,"  I  returned.  "  Their  odour  when  they  ap- 
proach me  is  not  flowery,  but  resembles  that  of  other 
dogs  which  feed  on  flesh,  and  have  offended  my  too 
sensitive  nostrils  even  in  the  drawing-rooms  of  Ca- 
racas. It  is  not  like  the  fragrance  of  cattle  when 
they  return  from  the  pasture." 

"  Every  animal,"  he  replied,  "  gives  out  that  odour 
which  is  peculiar  to  its  kind  " ;  an  incontrovertible 
fact  which  left  me  nothing  to  say. 

When  I  had  sufficiently  recovered  the  suppleness 
of  my  limbs  to  walk  with  ease  I  went  for  a  ramble  in 
the  wood,  in  the  hope  that  Rima  would  accompany 
me,  and  that  out  among  the  trees  she  would  cast 
aside  that  artificial  constraint  and  shyness  which  was 
her  manner  in  the  house. 

It  fell  out  just  as  I  had  expected;  she  accompanied 
me  in  the  sense  of  being  always  near  me,  or  within 
earshot,  and  her  manner  was  now  free  and  uncon- 
strained as  I  could  wish ;  but  little  or  nothing  was 
gained  by  the  change.  She  was  once  more  the  tan- 
talising, elusive,  mysterious  creature  I  had  first 
known  through  her  wandering,  melodious  voice.  The 
only  difference  was  that  the  musical,  inarticulate 
sounds  were  now  less  often  heard,  and  that  she  was 


GREEN  MANSIONS  119 

no  longer  afraid  to  show  herself  to  me.  This  for 
a  short  time  was  enough  to  make  me  happy,  since 
no  lovelier  being  was  ever  looked  upon,  nor  one  whose 
loveliness  was  less  likely  to  lose  its  charm  through 
being  often  seen. 

But  to  keep  her  near  me  or  always  in  sight  was,  I 
found,  impossible :  she  would  be  free  as  the  wind,  free 
as  the  butterfly,  going  and  coming  at  her  wayward 
will,  and  losing  herself  from  sight  a  dozen  times  every 
hour.  To  induce  her  to  walk  soberly  at  my  side  or 
sit  down  and  enter  into  conversation  with  me  seemed 
about  as  impracticable  as  to  tame  the  fiery-hearted 
little  humming-bird  that  flashes  into  sight,  remains 
suspended  motionless  for  a  few  seconds  before  your 
face,  then,  quick  as  lightning,  vanishes  again. 

At  length,  feeling  convinced  that  she  was  most 
happy  when  she  had  me  out  following  her  in  the 
wood,  that  in  spite  of  her  bird-like  wildness  she  had 
a  tender,  human  heart,  which  was  easily  moved,  I 
determined  to  try  to  draw  her  closer  by  means  of  a 
little  innocent  stratagem.  Going  out  in  the  morn- 
ing, after  calling  her  several  times  to  no  purpose,  I 
began  to  assume  a  downcast  manner,  as  if  suffering 
pain  or  depressed  with  grief;  and  at  last,  finding  a 
convenient  exposed  root  under  a  tree,  on  a  spot 
where  the  ground  was  dry  and  strewn  with  loose  yel- 
low sand,  I  sat  down  and  refused  to  go  any  further. 
For  she  always  wanted  to  lead  me  on  and  on,  and 
whenever  I  paused  she  would  return  to  show  herself, 


120  GREEN  MANSIONS 

or  to  chide  or  encourage  me  in  her  mysterious  lan- 
guage. All  her  pretty  little  arts  were  now  practised 
in  vain:  with  cheek  resting  on  my  hand  I  still  sat, 
my  eyes  fixed  on  that  patch  of  yellow  sand  at  my 
feet,  watching  how  the  small  particles  glinted  like 
diamond  dust  when  the  sunlight  touched  them.  A 
full  hour  passed  in  this  way,  during  which  I  encour- 
aged myself  by  saying  mentally :  "  This  is  a  con- 
test between  us,  and  the  most  patient  and  the  strong- 
est of  will,  which  should  be  the  man,  must  conquer. 
And  if  I  win  on  this  occasion  it  will  be  easier  for  me 
in  the  future — easier  to  discover  those  things  which 
I  am  resolved  to  know,  and  the  girl  must  reveal  to 
me,  since  the  old  man  has  proved  impracticable." 

Meanwhile  she  came  and  went  and  came  again; 
and  at  last,  finding  that  I  was  not  to  be  moved,  she 
approached  and  stood  near  me.  Her  face,  when  I 
glanced  at  it,  had  a  somewhat  troubled  look — both 
troubled  and  curious. 

"  Come  here,  Rima,"  I  said,  "  and  stay  with  me  for 
a  little  while — I  cannot  follow  you  now." 

She  took  one  or  two  hesitating  steps,  then  stood 
still  again;  and  at  length,  slowly  and  reluctantly, 
advanced  to  within  a  yard  of  me.  Then  I  rose  from 
my  seat  on  the  root,  so  as  to  catch  her  face  better, 
and  placed  my  hand  against  the  rough  bark  of  the 
tree. 

"  Rima,"  I  said,  speaking  in  a  low,  caressing  tone, 
"  will  you  stay  with  me  here  a  little  while  and  talk 


GREEN  MANSIONS  121 

to  me,  not  in  your  language,  but  in  mine,  so  that  I 
may  understand?  Will  you  listen  when  I  speak  to 
you,  and  answer  me?  " 

Her  lips  moved,  but  made  no  sound.  She  seemed 
strangely  disquieted,  and  shook  back  her  loose  hair, 
and  with  her  small  toes  moved  the  sparkling  sand  at 
her  feet,  and  once  or  twice  her  eyes  glanced  shyly  at 
my  face. 

"  Rima,  you  have  not  answered  me,"  I  persisted. 
"  Will  you  not  say  '  yes  '  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Where  does  your  grandfather  spend  his  day 
when  he  goes  out  with  his  dogs  ?  " 

She  shook  her  head  slightly,  but  would  not  speak. 

"  Have  you  no  mother,  Rima?  Do  you  remember 
your  mother?  " 

"  My  mother !  My  mother !  "  she  exclaimed  in  a 
low  voice,  but  with  a  sudden,  wonderful  animation. 
Bending  a  little  nearer  she  continued :  "  Oh,  she  is 
dead !  Her  body  is  in  the  earth  and  turned  to  dust. 
Like  that,"  and  she  moved  the  loose  sand  with  her 
foot.  "  Her  soul  is  up  there,  where  the  stars  and 
the  angels  are,  grandfather  says.  But  what  is  that 
to  me?  I  am  here — am  I  not?  I  talk  to  her  just 
the  same.  Everything  I  see  I  point  out,  and  tell 
her  everything.  In  the  daytime — in  the  woods,  when 
we  are  together.  And  at  night  when  I  lie  down  I 
cross  my  arms  on  my  breast — so,  and  say,  '  Mother, 
mother,  now  you  are  in  my  arms ;  let  us  go  to  sleep 


122  GREEN  MANSIONS 

together.'  Sometimes  I  say,  '  Oh,  why  will  you  never 
answer  me  when  I  speak  and  speak?  '  Mother — 
mother — mother !  " 

At  the  end  her  voice  suddenly  rose  to  a  mournful 
cry,  then  sunk,  and  at  the  last  repetition  of  the  word 
died  to  a  low  whisper. 

"Ah,  poor  Rima!  she  is  dead  and  cannot  speak 
to  you — cannot  hear  you !  Talk  to  me,  Rima ;  I  am 
living  and  can  answer." 

But  now  the  cloud,  which  had*  suddenly  lifted  from 
her  heart,  letting  me  see  for  a  moment  into  its 
mysterious  depths — its  fancies  so  childlike  and  feel- 
ings so  intense — had  fallen  again ;  and  my  words 
brought  no  response,  except  a  return  of  that  troubled 
look  to  her  face. 

"Silent  still?"  I  said.  "Talk  to  me,  then,  of 
your  mother,  Rima.  Do  you  know  that  you  will 
see  her  again  some  day  ?  " 

"  Yes,  when  I  die.      That  is  what  the  priest  said." 

"The  priest?" 

"  Yes,  at  Voa — do  you  know?  Mother  died  there 
when  I  was  small — it  is  so  far  away !  And  there  are 
thirteen  houses  by  the  side  of  the  river — just  here; 
and  on  this  side — trees,  trees." 

This  was  important,  I  thought,  and  would  lead  to 
the  very  knowledge  I  wished  for;  so  I  pressed  her  to 
tell  me  more  about  the  settlement  she  had  named, 
and  of  which  I  had  never  heard. 

"  Everything  have  I  told  you,"  she  returned,  sur- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  123 

prised  that  I  did  not  know  that  she  had  exhausted 
the  subject  in  those  half-dozen  words  she  had  spoken. 

Obliged  to  shift  my  ground,  I  said  at  a  venture: 
"  Tell  me,  what  do  you  ask  of  the  Virgin  Mother 
when  you  kneel  before  her  picture?  Your  grand- 
father told  me  that  you  had  a  picture  in  your  little 
room." 

"  You  know !  "  flashed  out  her  answer,  with  some- 
thing like  resentment.  "  It  is  all  there — in  there," 
waving  her  hand  towards  the  hut.  "  Out  here  in  the 
wood  it  is  all  gone — like  this,"  and  stooping  quickly 
she  raised  a  little  yellow  sand  on  her  palm,  then  let 
it  run  away  through  her  fingers. 

Thus  she  illustrated  how  all  the  matters  she  had 
been  taught  slipped  from  her  mind  when  she  was 
out-of-doors,  out  of  sight  of  the  picture.  After  an 
interval  she  added,  "  Only  mother  is  here — always 
with  me." 

"  Ah,  poor  Rima ! "  I  said ;  "  alone  without  a 
mother,  and  only  your  old  grandfather!  He  is  old 
— what  will  you  do  when  he  dies  and  flies  away  to 
the  starry  country  where  your  mother  is  ?  " 

She  looked  inquiringly  at  me,  then  made  answer 
in  a  low  voice,  "  You  are  here." 

"  But  when  I  go  away?  " 

She  was  silent ;  and  not  wishing  to  dwell  on  a  sub- 
ject that  seemed  to  pain  her,  I  continued:  "Yes, 
I  am  here  now,  but  you  will  not  stay  with  me  and  talk 
freely !     Will  it  always  be  the  same  if  I  remain  with 


124  GREEN  MANSIONS 

you?  Why  are  you  always  so  silent  in  the  house,  so 
cold  with  your  old  grandfather?  So  different — so 
full  of  life,  like  a  bird,  when  you  are  alone  in  the 
woods?  Rima,  speak  to  me!  Am  I  no  more  to  you 
than  your  old  grandfather?  Do  you  not  like  me  to 
talk  to  you?  " 

She  appeared  strangely  disturbed  at  my  words. 
"  Oh,  you  are  not  like  him,"  she  suddenly  replied. 
"  Sitting  all  day  on  a  log  by  the  fire — all  day,  all 
day ;  Goloso  and  Susio  lying  beside  him — sleep,  sleep. 
Oh,  when  I  saw  you  in  the  wood  I  followed  you,  and 
talked  and  talked ;  still  no  answer.  Why  will  you 
not  come  when  I  call?  To  me!"  Then,  mocking 
my  voice,  "  Rima,  Rima !  Come  here !  Do  this ! 
Say  that !  Rima  !  Rima !  It  is  nothing,  nothing — 
it  is  not  you,"  pointing  to  my  mouth;  and  then,  as 
if  fearing  that  her  meaning  had  not  been  made  clear, 
suddenly  touching  my  lips  with  her  finger.  "  Why 
do  you  not  answer  me? — speak  to  me — speak  to  me, 
like  this !  "  And  turning  a  little  more  towards  me, 
and  glancing  at  me  with  eyes  that  had  all  at  once 
changed,  losing  their  clouded  expression  for  one  of 
exquisite  tenderness,  from  her  lips  came  a  succession 
of  those  mysterious  sounds  which  had  first  attracted 
me  to  her,  swift  and  low  and  bird-like,  yet  with  some- 
thing so  much  higher  and  more  soul-penetrating 
than  any  bird  music.  Ah,  what  feeling  and  fancies, 
what  quaint  turns  of  expression,  unfamiliar  to  my 
mind,  were  contained  in  those  sweet,  wasted  symbols ! 


GREEN  MANSIONS  125 

I  could  never  know — never  come  to  her  when  she 
called,  or  respond  to  her  spirit.  To  me  they  would 
always  be  inarticulate  sounds,  affecting  me  like  a 
tender  spiritual  music — a  language  without  words, 
suggesting  more  than  words  to  the  soul. 

The  mysterious  speech  died  down  to  a  lisping 
sound,  like  the  faint  note  of  some  small  bird  falling 
from  a  cloud  of  foliage  on  the  topmost  bough  of  a 
tree;  and  at  the  same  time  that  new  light  passed 
from  her  eyes,  and  she  half  averted  her  face  in  a  dis- 
appointed way. 

"  Rima,"  I  said  at  length,  a  new  thought  coming 
to  my  aid,  "  it  is  true  that  I  am  not  here,"  touch- 
ing my  lips  as  she  had  done,  '*  and  that  my  words 
are  nothing.  But  look  into  my  eyes,  and  you  will 
see  me  there — all,  all  that  is  in  my  heart." 

"  Oh,  I  know  what  I  should  see  there !  "  she  re- 
turned quickly. 

"  What  would  you  see — tell  me?  " 

"  There  is  a  little  black  ball  in  the  middle  of  your 
eye ;  I  should  see  myself  in  it  no  bigger  than  that," 
and  she  marked  off  about  an  eighth  of  her  little  finger- 
nail. "  There  is  a  pool  in  the  wood,  and  I  look 
down  and  see  myself  there.  That  is  better.  Just 
as  large  as  I  am — not  small  and  black  like  a  small, 
small  fly."  And  after  saying  this  a  little  disdain- 
fully she  moved  away  from  my  side  and  out  into  the 
sunshine;  and  then,  half  turning  towards  me,  and 
glancing  first   at   my   face    and   then   upwards,    she 


126  GREEN  MANSIONS 

raised  her  hand  to  call  my  attention  to  something 
there. 

Far  up,  high  as  the  tops  of  the  tallest  trees,  a 
great  blue-winged  butterfly  was  passing  across  the 
open  space  with  loitering  flight.  In  a  few  moments 
it  was  gone  over  the  trees ;  then  she  turned  once  more 
to  me  with  a  little  rippling  sound  of  laughter — the 
first    I   had   heard   from   her,    and    called,    "  Come, 


come 


i  » 


I  was  glad  enough  to  go  with  her  then;  and  for 
the  next  two  hours  we  rambled  together  in  the  wood ; 
that  is,  together  in  her  way,  for  though  always  near 
she  contrived  to  keep  out  of  my  sight  most  of  the 
time.  She  was  evidently  now  in  a  gay,  frolicsome 
temper;  again  and  again,  when  I  looked  closely  into 
some  wide-spreading  bush,  or  peered  behind  a  tree, 
when  her  calling  voice  had  sounded,  her  rippling 
)aughter  would  come  to  me  from  some  other  spot. 
At  length,  somewhere  about  the  centre  of  the  wood, 
she  led  me  to  an  immense  mora  tree,  growing  al- 
most isolated,  covering  with  its  shade  a  large  space 
of  ground  entirely  free  from  undergrowth.  At  this 
spot  she  all  at  once  vanished  from  my  side ;  and  after 
listening  and  watching  some  time  in  vain  I  sat  down 
beside  the  giant  trunk  to  wait  for  her.  Very  soon 
I  heard  a  low,  warbling  sound  which  seemed  quite 
near. 

"  Rima !  Rima ! "  I  called,  and  instantly  my  call 
was  repeated  like  an  echo.     Again  and  again  I  called, 


GREEN  MANSIONS  127 

and  still  the  words  flew  back  to  me,  and  I  could  not 
decide  whether  it  was  an  echo  or  not.  Then  I  gave 
up  calling;  and  presently  the  low,  warbling  sound 
was  repeated,  and  I  knew  that  Rima  was  somewhere 
near  me. 

"  Rima,  where  are  you?  "  I  called. 

"  Rima,  where  are  you?  "  came  the  answer. 

"  You  are  behind  the  tree." 

"  You  are  behind  the  tree." 

"  I  shall  catch  you,  Rima."  And  this  time,  in- 
stead of  repeating  my  words,  she  answered,  "  Oh 
no." 

I  jumped  up  and  ran  round  the  tree,  feeling  sure 
that  I  should  find  her.  It  was  about  thirty-five  or 
forty  feet  in  circumference ;  and  after  going  round 
two  or  three  times  I  turned  and  ran  the  other  way, 
but  failing  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  her  I  at  last  sat 
down  again. 

"  Rima,  Rima !  "  sounded  the  mocking  voice  as 
soon  as  I  had  sat  down.  "  Where  are  you,  Rima? 
I  shall  catch  you,  Rima  !     Have  you  caught  Rima  ?  " 

"  No,  I  have  not  caught  her.  There  is  no  Rima 
now.  She  has  faded  away  like  a  rainbow — like  a 
drop  of  dew  in  the  sun.  I  have  lost  her;  I  shall  go 
to  sleep."  And  stretching  myself  out  at  full  length 
under  the  tree,  I  remained  quiet  for  two  or  three 
minutes.  Then  a  slight  rustling  sound  was  heard, 
and  I  looked  eagerly  round  for  her.  But  the  sound 
was  overhead  and  caused  by  a  great  avalanche  of 


128  GREEN  MANSIONS 

leaves  which  began  to  descend  on  to  me  from  that 
vast  leafy  canopy  above. 

'*  Ah,  little  spider-monkey — little  green  tree-snake 
— you  are  there ! "  But  there  was  no  seeing  her  in 
that  immense  aerial  palace  hung  with  dim  drapery 
of  green  and  copper-coloured  leaves.  But  how  had 
she  got  there?  Up  the  stupendous  trunk  even  a 
monkey  could  not  have  climbed,  and  there  were  no 
lianas  dropping  to  earth  from  the  wide  horizontal 
branches  that  I  could  see;  but  by-and-by,  looking 
further  away,  I  perceived  that  on  one  side  the  longest 
lower  branches  reached  and  mingled  with  the  shorter 
boughs  of  the  neighbouring  trees.  While  gazing  up 
I  heard  her  low,  rippling  laugh,  and  then  caught 
sight  of  her  as  she  ran  along  an  exposed  horizontal 
branch,  erect  on  her  feet ;  and  my  heart  stood  still 
with  terror,  for  she  was  fifty  to  sixty  feet  above  the 
ground.  In  another  moment  she  vanished  from  sight 
in  a  cloud  of  foliage,  and  I  saw  no  more  of  her  for 
about  ten  minutes,  when  all  at  once  she  appeared  at 
my  side  once  more,  having  come  round  the  trunk  of 
the  mora.  Her  face  had  a  bright,  pleased  expres- 
sion, and  showed  no  trace  of  fatigue  or  agitation. 

I  caught  her  hand  in  mine.  It  was  a  delicate, 
shapely  little  hand,  soft  as  velvet,  and  warm — a  real 
human  hand:  only  now  when  I  held  it  did  she  seem 
altogether  like  a  human  being,  and  not  a  mocking 
spirit  of  the  wood,  a  daughter  of  the  Didi. 

"  Do  you  like  me  to  hold  your  hand,  Rima?  " 


GREEN  MANSIONS  129 

:<  Yes,"  she  replied,  with  indifference. 

"Is  it  I?" 

"  Yes."  This  time  as  if  it  was  small  satisfaction 
to  make  acquaintance  with  this  purely  physical  part 
of  me. 

Having  her  so  close  gave  me  an  opportunity  of 
examining  that  light  sheeny  garment  she  wore  al- 
ways in  the  woods.  It  felt  soft  and  satiny  to  the 
touch,  and  there  was  no  seam  nor  hem  in  it  that  I 
could  see,  but  it  was  all  in  one  piece,  like  the  cocoon 
of  the  caterpillar.  While  I  was  feeling  it  on  her 
shoulder  and  looking  narrowly  at  it,  she  glanced  at 
me  with  a  mocking  laugh  in  her  eyes. 

"  Is  it  silk?  "  I  asked.  Then,  as  she  remained  si- 
lent, I  continued,  "  Where  did  you  get  this  dress, 
Rima?     Did  you  make  it  yourself?     Tell  me." 

She  answered  not  in  words,  but  in  response  to  my 
question  a  new  look  came  into  her  face;  no  longer 
restless  and  full  of  change  in  her  expression,  she  was 
now  as  immovable  as  an  alabaster  statue ;  not  a  silken 
hair  on  her  head  trembled ;  her  eyes  were  wide  open, 
gazing  fixedly  before  her;  and  when  I  looked  into 
them  they  seemed  to  see  and  yet  not  to  see  me. 
They  were  like  the  clear,  brilliant  eyes  of  a  bird, 
which  reflect  as  in  a  miraculous  mirror  all  the  visible 
world  but  do  not  return  our  look,  and  seem  to  see  us 
merely  as  one  of  the  thousand  small  details  that  make 
up  the  whole  picture.  Suddenly  she  darted  out  her 
hand  like  a  flash,  making  me  start  at  the  unexpected 


130  GREEN  MANSIONS 

motion,  and  quickly  withdrawing  it,  held  up  a  finger 
before  me.  From  its  tip  a  minute  gossamer  spider, 
about  twice  the  bigness  of  a  pin's  head,  appeared 
suspended  from  a  fine,  scarcely  visible  line  three  or 
four  inches  long. 

"  Look !  "  she  exclaimed,  with  a  bright  glance  at 
my  face. 

The  small  spider  she  had  captured,  anxious  to  be 
free,  was  falling,  falling  earthward,  but  could  not 
reach  the  surface.  Leaning  her  shoulder  a  little 
forward,  she  placed  the  finger-tip  against  it,  but 
lightly,  scarcely  touching,  and  moving  continuously, 
with  a  motion  rapid  as  that  of  a  fluttering  moth's 
wing;  while  the  spider,  still  paying  out  his  line,  re- 
mained suspended,  rising  and  falling  slightly  at 
nearly  the  same  distance  from  the  ground.  After 
a  few  moments  she  cried,  "  Drop  down,  little  spider." 
Her  finger's  motion  ceased,  and  the  minute  captive 
fell,  to  lose  itself  on  the  shaded  ground. 

"  Do  you  not  see  ?  "  she  said  to  me,  pointing  to  her 
shoulder.  Just  where  the  finger-tip  had  touched  the 
garment  a  round  shining  spot  appeared,  looking  like 
a  silver  coin  on  the  cloth ;  but  on  touching  it  with 
my  finger  it  seemed  part  of  the  original  fabric,  only 
whiter  and  more  shiny  on  the  grey  ground,  on  ac- 
count of  the  freshness  of  the  web  of  which  it  had 
just  been  made. 

And  so  all  this  curious  and  pretty  performance, 
which   seemed   instinctive   in   its   spontaneous  quick- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  131 

ness  and  dexterity,  was  merely  intended  to  show  me 
how  she  made  her  garments  out  of  the  fine  floating 
lines  of  small  gossamer  spiders ! 

Before  I  could  express  my  surprise  and  admira- 
tion she  cried  again,  with  startling  suddenness, 
"  Look !  " 

A  minute  shadowy  form  darted  by,  appearing  like 
a  dim  line  traced  across  the  deep  glossy  mora  foli- 
age, then  on  the  lighter  green  foliage  further  away. 
She  waved  her  hand  in  imitation  of  its  swift,  curv- 
ing flight,  then  dropping  it  exclaimed,  "  Gone — oh, 
little  thing!" 

"  What  was  it  ?  "  I  asked,  for  it  might  have  been 
a  bird,  a  bird-like  moth,  or  a  bee. 

"Did  you  not  see?  And  you  asked  me  to  look 
into  your  eyes !  " 

"  Ah,  little  squirrel  Sakawinki,  you  remind  me  of 
that !  "  I  said,  passing  my  arm  round  her  waist  and 
drawing  her  a  little  closer.  "  Look  into  my  eyes  now 
and  see  if  I  am  blind,  and  if  there  is  nothing  in  them 
except  an  image  of  Rima  like  a  small,  small  fly." 

She  shook  her  head  and  laughed  a  little  mockingly, 
but  made  no  effort  to  escape  from  my  arm. 

"  Would  you  like  me  always  to  do  what  you  wish, 
Rima — to  follow  you  in  the  woods  when  you  say 
'  Come  ' — to  chase  you  round  the  tree  to  catch  you, 
and  lie  down  for  you  to  throw  leaves  on  me,  and  to  be 
glad  when  you  are  glad?  " 

"  Oh  yes." 


132  GREEN  MANSIONS 

"  Then  let  us  make  a  compact.  I  shall  do  every- 
thing to  please  you,  and  you  must  promise  to  do 
everything  to  please  me." 

"  Tell  me." 

"  Little  things,  Rima — none  so  hard  as  chasing  you 
round  a  tree.  Only  to  have  you  stand  or  sit  by  me 
and  talk  will  make  me  happy.  And  to  begin  you 
must  call  me  by  my  name — Abel." 

"  Is  that  your  name  ?  Oh,  not  your  real  name ! 
Abel,  Abel — what  is  that?  It  says  nothing.  I  have 
called  you  by  so  many  names — twenty,  thirty — and 
no  answer." 

"Have  you?  But,  dearest  girl,  every  person  has 
a  name — one  name  he  is  called  by.  Your  name,  for 
instance,  is  Rima,  is  it  not?  " 

"Rima!  only  Rima — to  you?  In  the  morning,  in 
the  evening  .  .  .  now  in  this  place  and  in  a  little 
while  where  know  I  ?  ...  in  the  night  when  you  wake 
and  it  is  dark,  dark,  and  you  see  me  all  the  same. 
Only  Rima — oh,  how  strange !  " 

"  What  else,  sweet  girl?  Your  grandfather  Nuflo 
calls  you  Rima." 

"  Nuflo?  "  She  spoke  as  if  putting  a  question  to 
herself.  "  Is  that  an  old  man  with  two  dogs  that 
lives  somewhere  in  the  wood?  "  And  then,  with  sud- 
den petulance,  "  And  you  ask  me  to  talk  to  }tou  1 " 

"  Oh,  Rima,  what  can  I  say  to  you  ?     Listen " 

"  No,  no,"  she  exclaimed,  quickly  turning  and  put- 
ting her  fingers   on  my  mouth  to  stop  my   speech, 


GREEN  MANSIONS  133 

while  a  sudden  merry  look  shone  in  her  eyes.  "  You 
shall  listen  when  I  speak,  and  do  all  I  say.  And  tell 
me  what  to  do  to  please  you  with  your  eyes — let  me 
look  in  your  eyes  that  are  not  blind." 

She  turned  her  face  more  towards  me,  and  with 
head  a  little  thrown  back  and  inclined  to  one  side, 
gazing  now  full  into  my  eyes  as  I  had  wished  her  to 
do.  After  a  few  moments  she  glanced  away  to  the 
distant  trees.  But  I  could  see  into  those  divine  orbs, 
and  knew  that  she  was  not  looking  at  any  particular 
object.  All  the  ever-varying  expressions — inquisi- 
tive, petulant,  troubled,  shy,  frolicsome — had  now 
vanished  from  the  still  face,  and  the  look  was  inward 
and  full  of  a  strange,  exquisite  light,  as  if  some  new 
happiness  or  hope  had  touched  her  spirit. 

Sinking  my  voice  to  a  whisper  I  said,  "  Tell  me 
what  you  have  seen  in  my  eyes,  Rima  ?  " 

She  murmured  in  reply  something  melodious  and 
inarticulate,  then  glanced  at  my  face  in  a  question- 
ing way ;  but  only  for  a  moment,  then  her  sweet  eyes 
were  again  veiled  under  those  drooping  lashes. 

"  Listen,  Rima,"  I  said.  "  Was  that  a  humming- 
bird we  saw  a  little  while  ago?  You  are  like  that, 
now  dark,  a  shadow  in  the  shadow,  seen  for  an  in- 
stant, and  then — gone,  oh,  little  thing!  And  now 
in  the  sunshine  standing  still,  how  beautiful ! — a 
thousand  times  more  beautiful  than  the  humming- 
bird. Listen,  Rima,  you  are  like  all  beautiful  things 
in   the  wood — flower,   and  bird,  and  butterfly,   and 


134  GREEN  MANSIONS 

green  leaf,  and  frond,  and  little  silky-haired  monkey 
high  up  in  the  trees.  When  I  look  at  you  I  see 
them  all — all  and  more,  a  thousand  times,  for  I  see 
Rima  herself.  And  when  I  listen  to  Rima's  voice, 
talking  in  a  language  I  cannot  understand,  I  hear 
the  wind  whispering  in  the  leaves,  the  gurgling  run- 
ning water,  the  bee  among  the  flowers,  the  organ- 
bird  singing  far,  far  away  in  the  shadows  of  the  trees. 
I  hear  them  all,  and  more,  for  I  hear  Rima.  Do  you 
understand  me  now?  Is  it  I  speaking  to  you — have 
I  answered  you — have  I  come  to  you  ?  " 

She  glanced  at  me  again,  her  lips  trembling,  her 
eyes  now  clouded  with  some  secret  trouble.  "  Yes," 
she  replied  in  a  whisper,  and  then,  "  No,  it  is  not 
you,"  and  after  a  moment,  doubtfully,  "  Is  it  you?  " 

But  she  did  not  wait  to  be  answered:  in  a  moment 
she  was  gone  round  the  mora ;  nor  would  she  return 
again  for  all  my  calling. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THAT  afternoon  with  Rima  in  the  forest  under 
the  mora  tree  had  proved  so  delightful  that  I 
was  eager  for  more  rambles  and  talks  with  her,  but 
the  variable  little  witch  had  a  great  surprise  in  store 
for  me.  All  her  wild  natural  gaiety  had  unaccount- 
ably gone  out  of  her:  when  I  walked  in  the  shade  she 
was  there,  but  no  longer  as  the  blithe,  fantastic  be- 
ing, bright  as  an  angel,  innocent  and  affectionate  as 
a  child,  tricksy  as  a  monkey,  that  had  played  at 
hide-and-seek  with  me.  She  was  now  my  shy,  silent 
attendant,  only  occasionally  visible,  and  appearing 
then  like  the  mysterious  maid  I  had  found  reclining 
among  the  ferns  who  had  melted  away  mist-like  from 
sight  as  I  gazed.  When  I  called  she  would  not  now 
answer  as  formerly,  but  in  response  would  appear 
in  sight  as  if  to  assure  me  that  I  had  not  been  for- 
saken; and  after  a  few  moments  her  grey  shadowy 
form  would  once  more  vanish  among  the  trees.  The 
hope  that  as  her  confidence  increased  and  she  grew 
accustomed  to  talk  with  me  she  would  be  brought  to 
reveal  the  story  of  her  life  had  to  be  abandoned, 
at  all  events  for  the  present.     I  must,  after  all,  get 

my   information  from   Nuflo,  or  rest  in  ignorance. 

135 


136  GREEN  MANSIONS 

The  old  man  was  out  for  the  greater  part  of  each 
day  with  his  dogs,  and  from  these  expeditions  he 
brought  back  nothing  that  I  could  see  but  a  few  nuts 
and  fruits,  some  thin  bark  for  his  cigarettes,  and  an 
occasional  handful  of  haima  gum  to  perfume  the  hut 
of  an  evening.  After  I  had  wasted  three  days  in 
vainly  trying  to  overcome  the  girl's  now  inexplicable 
shyness,  I  resolved  to  give  for  a  while  my  undivided 
attention  to  her  grandfather  to  discover,  if  possible, 
where  he  went  and  how  he  spent  his  time. 

My  new  game  of  hide-and-seek  with  Nuflo  instead 
of  with  Rima  began  on  the  following  morning.  He 
was  cunning:  so  was  I.  Going  out  and  concealing 
myself  among  the  bushes,  I  began  to  watch  the  hut. 
That  I  could  elude  Rima's  keener  eyes  I  doubted; 
but  that  did  not  trouble  me.  She  was  not  in  har- 
mony with  the  old  man,  and  would  do  nothing  to  de- 
feat my  plan.  I  had  not  been  long  in  my  hiding- 
place  before  he  came  out,  followed  by  his  two  dogs, 
and  going  to  some  distance  from  the  door  he  sat 
down  on  a  log.  For  some  minutes  he  smoked,  then 
rose,  and  after  looking  cautiously  round  slipped 
away  among  the  trees.  I  saw  that  he  was  going  off 
in  the  direction  of  the  low  range  of  rocky  hills  south 
of  the  forest.  I  knew  that  the  forest  did  not  extend 
far  in.  that  direction,  and  thinking  that  I  should  be 
able  to  catch  a  sight  of  him  on  its  borders,  I  left  the 
bushes  and  ran  through  the  trees  as  fast  as  I  could 
to  get  ahead  of  him.      Coming  to  where  the  wood 


GREEN  MANSIONS  137 

was  very  open,  I  found  that  a  barren  plain  beyond 
it,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide,  separated  it  from  the 
range  of  hills ;  thinking  that  the  old  man  might  cross 
this  open  space  I  climbed  into  a  tree  to  watch. 
After  some  time  he  appeared,  walking  rapidly  among 
the  trees,  the  dogs  at  his  heels,  but  not  going  towards 
the  open  plain;  he  had,  it  seemed,  after  arriving  at 
the  edge  of  the  wood,  changed  his  direction,  and  was 
going  west,  still  keeping  in  the  shelter  of  the  trees. 
When  he  had  been  gone  about  five  minutes  I  dropped 
to  the  ground  and  started  in  pursuit;  once  more  I 
caught  sight  of  him  through  the  trees,  and  I  kept 
him  in  sight  for  about  twenty  minutes  longer;  then 
he  came  to  a  broad  strip  of  dense  wood  which  ex- 
tended into  and  through  the  range  of  hills,  and  here 
I  quickly  lost  him.  Hoping  still  to  overtake  him,  1 
pushed  on,  but  after  struggling  through  the  under- 
wood for  some  distance,  and  finding  the  forest  grow- 
ing more  difficult  as  I  progressed,  I  at  last  gave  him 
up.  Turning  eastward  I  got  out  of  the  wood  to  find 
myself  at  the  foot  of  a  steep  rough  hill,  one  of  the 
range  which  the  wooded  valley  cut  through  at  right 
angles.  It  struck  me  that  it  would  be  a  good  plan 
to  climb  the  hill  to  get  a  view  of  the  forest  belt  in 
which  I  had  lost  the  old  man ;  and  after  walking 
a  short  distance  I  found  a  spot  which  allowed  of  an 
ascent.  The  summit  of  the  hill  was  about  three  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  surrounding  level,  and  did  not 
take  me  long  to  reach;  it  commanded  a  fair  view, 


138  GREEN  MANSIONS 

and  I  now  saw  that  the  belt  of  wood  beneath  me  ex- 
tended right  through  the  range,  and  on  the  south 
side  opened  out  into  an  extensive  forest.  "  If  that 
is  your  destination,"  thought  I,  "  old  fox,  jour  se- 
crets are  safe  from  me." 

It  was  still  early  in  the  day,  and  a  slight  breeze 
tempered  the  air  and  made  it  cool  and  pleasant 
on  the  hilltop  after  my  exertions.  My  scramble 
through  the  wood  had  fatigued  me  somewhat,  and 
resolving  to  spend  some  hours  on  that  spot,  I  looked 
round  for  a  comfortable  resting-place.  I  soon  found 
a  shady  spot  on  the  west  side  of  an  upright  block 
of  stone  where  I  could  recline  at  ease  on  a  bed  of 
lichen.  Here,  with  shoulders  resting  against  the 
rock,  I  sat  thinking  of  Rima,  alone  in  her  wood  to- 
day, with  just  a  tinge  of  bitterness  in  my  thoughts 
which  made  me  hope  that  she  would  miss  me  as  much 
as  I  missed  her;  and  in  the  end  I  fell  asleep. 

When  I  woke  it  was  past  noon,  and  the  sun  was 
shining  directly  on  me.  Standing  up  to  gaze  once 
more  on  the  prospect,  I  noticed  a  small  wreath  of 
white  smoke  issuing  from  a  spot  about  the  middle 
of  the  forest  belt  beneath  me,  and  I  instantly  di- 
vined that  Nuflo  had  made  a  fire  at  that  place,  and 
I  resolved  to  surprise  him  in  his  retreat.  When  I 
got  down  to  the  base  of  the  hill  the  smoke  could  no 
longer  be  seen,  but  I  had  studied  the  spot  well  from 
above,  and  had  singled  out  a  large  clump  of  trees  on 
the  edge  of  the  belt  as  a  starting-point ;  and  after 


GREEN  MANSIONS  139 

a  search  of  half  an  hour  I  succeeded  in  finding  the 
old  man's  hiding-place.  First  I  saw  smoke  again 
through  an  opening  in  the  trees,  then  a  small  rude 
hut  of  sticks  and  palm-leaves.  Approaching  cau- 
tiously, I  peered  through  a  crack  and  discovered 
old  Nuflo  engaged  in  smoking  some  meat  over  a  fire, 
and  at  the  same  time  grilling  some  bones  on  the 
coals.  He  had  captured  a  coatimundi,  an  animal 
somewhat  larger  than  a  tame  torn  cat,  with  a  long 
snout  and  long  ringed  tail :  one  of  the  dogs  was  gnaw- 
ing at  the  animal's  head,  and  the  tail  and  the  feet 
were  also  lying  on  the  floor,  among  the  old  bones  and 
rubbish  that  littered  it.  Stealing  round  I  suddenly 
presented  myself  at  the  opening  to  his  den,  when  the 
dogs  rose  up  with  a  growl  and  Nuflo  instantly  leaped 
to  his  feet,  knife  in  hand. 

"  Aha,  old  man,"  I  cried,  with  a  laugh,  "  I  have 
found  you  at  one  of  your  vegetarian  repasts ;  and 
your  grass-eating  dogs  as  well !  " 

He  was  disconcerted  and  suspicious,  but  when  I 
explained  that  I  had  seen  a  smoke  while  on  the  hills, 
where  I  had  gone  to  search  for  a  curious  blue  flower 
which  grew  in  such  places,  and  had  made  my  way 
to  it  to  discover  the  cause,  he  recovered  confidence 
and  invited  me  to  join  him  at  his  dinner  of  roast 
meat. 

I  was  hungry  by  this  time  and  not  sorry  to  get  ani- 
mal food  once  more;  nevertheless,  I  ate  this  meat 
with  some  disgust,  as  it  had  a  rank  taste  and  smell, 


140  GREEN  MANSIONS 

and  it  was  also  unpleasant  to  have  those  evil-looking 
dogs  savagely  gnawing  at  the  animal's  head  and 
feet  at  the  same  time. 

"  You  see,"  said  the  old  hypocrite,  wiping  the 
grease  from  his  moustache,  "  this  is  what  I  am  com- 
pelled to  do  in  order  to  avoid  giving  offence.  My 
granddaughter  is  a  strange  being,  sir,  as  you  have 
perhaps  observed " 

"  That  reminds  me,"  I  interrupted,  "  that  I  wish 
you  to  relate  her  history  to  me.  She  is,  as  you  say, 
strange,  and  has  speech  and  faculties  unlike  ours, 
which  shows  that  she  comes  of  a  different  race." 

"  No,  no,  her  faculties  are  not  different  from  ours. 
They  are  sharper,  that  is  all.  It  pleases  the  All- 
Powerful  to  give  more  to  some  than  to  others.  Not 
all  the  fingers  on  the  hand  are  alike.  You  will  find 
a  man  who  will  take  up  a  guitar  and  make  it  speak, 
while  I " 

"  All  that  I  understand,"  I  broke  in  again.  "  But 
her  origin,  her  history — that  is  what  I  wish  to  hear." 

"  And  that,  sir,  is  precisely  what  I  am  about  to 
relate.  Poor  child,  she  was  left  on  my  hands  by  her 
sainted  mother — my  daughter,  sir — who  perished 
young.  Now  her  birthplace,  where  she  was  taught 
letters  and  the  Catechism  by  the  priest,  was  in  an 
unhealthy  situation.  It  was  hot  and  wet — always 
wet — a  place  suited  to  frogs  rather  than  to  human 
beings.  At  length,  thinking  that  it  would  suit  the 
child  better — for  she  was  pale  and  weakly — to  live 


GREEN  MANSIONS  141 

in  a  drier  atmosphere  among  mountains,  I  brought 
her  to  this  district.  For  this,  senor,  and  for  all  I 
have  done  for  her,  I  look  for  no  reward  here,  but  to 
that  place  where  my  daughter  has  got  her  foot ;  not, 
sir,  on  the  threshold,  as  you  might  think,  but  well 
inside.  For,  after  all,  it  is  to  the  authorities  above, 
in  spite  of  some  blots  which  we  see  in  their  adminis- 
tration, that  we  must  look  for  justice.  Frankly, 
sir,  this  is  the  whole  story  of  my  granddaughter's 
origin." 

"  Ah,  yes,"  I  returned,  "  your  story  explains  why 
she  can  call  a  wild  bird  to  her  hand,  and  touch  a 
venomous  serpent  with  her  bare  foot  and  receive  no 
harm." 

"  Doubtless  you  are  right,"  said  the  old  dissem- 
bler. "  Living  alone  in  the  wood  she  had  only  God's 
creatures  to  play  and  make  friends  with ;  and  wild 
animals,  I  have  heard  it  said,  know  those  who  are 
friendly  towards   them." 

"  You  treat  her  friends  badly,"  said  I,  kicking  the 
long  tail  of  the  coatimundi  away  with  my  foot,  and 
regretting  that  I  had  joined  in  his  repast. 

"  Senor,  you  must  consider  that  we  are  only  what 
Heaven  made  us.  When  all  this  was  formed,"  he  con- 
tinued, opening  his  arms  wide  to  indicate  the  entire 
creation,  "  the  Person  who  concerned  himself  with 
this  matter  gave  seeds  and  fruitlets  and  nectar  of 
flowers  for  the  sustentation  of  His  small  birds.  But 
we  have  not  their  delicate  appetites.     The  more  ro- 


142  GREEN  MANSIONS 

bust  stomach  which  he  gave  to  man  cries  out  for 
meat.  Do  you  understand?  But  of  all  this,  friend, 
not  one  word  to  Rima !  " 

I  laughed  scornfully.  "  Do  you  think  me  such  a 
child,  old  man,  as  to  believe  that  Rima,  that  little 
sprite,  does  not  know  that  you  are  an  eater  of  flesh? 
Rima,  who  is  everywhere  in  the  wood,  seeing  all 
things,  even  if  I  lift  my  hand  against  a  serpent,  she 
herself  unseen." 

"  But,  sir,  if  you  will  pardon  my  presumption,  you 
are  saying  too  much.  She  does  not  come  here,  and 
therefore  cannot  see  that  I  eat  meat.  In  all  that 
wood  where  she  flourished  and  sings,  where  she  is  in 
her  house  and  garden,  and  mistress  of  the  creatures, 
even  of  the  small  butterfly  with  painted  wings,  there, 
sir,  I  hunt  no  animal.  Nor  will  my  dogs  chase  any 
animal  there.  That  is  what  I  meant  when  I  said 
that  if  an  animal  should  stumble  against  their  legs, 
they  would  lift  up  their  noses  and  pass  on  without 
seeing  it.  For  in  that  wood  there  is  one  law,  the  law 
that  Rima  imposes,  and  outside  of  it  a  different  law." 

"  I  am  glad  that  you  have  told  me  this,"  I  re- 
plied. "  The  thought  that  Rima  might  be  near,  and, 
unseen  herself,  look  in  upon  us  feeding  with  the  dogs 
and,  like  dogs,  on  flesh,  was  one  which  greatly  trou- 
bled my  mind." 

He  glanced  at  me  in  his  usual  quick,  cunning  way. 

"  Ah,  senor,  you  have  that  feeling  too — after  so 
short  a  time  with  us !     Consider,  then,  what  it  must 


GREEN  MANSIONS  143 

be  for  me,  unable  to  nourish  myself  on  gums  and 
fruitlets,  and  that  little  sweetness  made  by  wasps 
out  of  flowers,  when  I  am  compelled  to  go  far  away 
and  eat  secretly  to  avoid  giving  offence." 

It  was  hard,  no  doubt,  but  I  did  not  pity  him ;  se- 
cretly I  could  only  feel  anger  against  him  for  re- 
fusing to  enlighten  me,  while  making  such  a  pretence 
of  openness ;  and  I  also  felt  disgusted  with  myself 
for  having  joined  him  in  his  rank  repast.  But  dis- 
simulation was  necessary,  and  so,  after  conversing 
a  little  more  on  indifferent  topics,  and  thanking  him 
for  his  hospitality,  I  left  him  alone  to  go  on  with 
his  smoky  task. 

On  my  way  back  to  the  lodge,  fearing  that  some 
taint  of  Nuflo's  evil-smelling  den  and  dinner  might 
still  cling  to  me,  I  turned  aside  to  where  a  streamlet 
in  the  wood  widened  and  formed  a  deep  pool,  to  take 
a  plunge  in  the  water.  After  drying  myself  in  the 
air,  and  thoroughly  ventilating  my  garments  by 
shaking  and  beating  them,  I  found  an  open,  shady 
spot  in  the  wood  and  threw  myself  on  the  grass  to 
wait  for  evening  before  returning  to  the  house.  By 
that  time  the  sweet,  warm  air  would  have  purified  me. 
Besides,  I  did  not  consider  that  I  had  sufficiently 
punished  Rima  for  her  treatment  of  me.  She  would 
be  anxious  for  my  safety,  perhaps  even  looking  for 
me  everywhere  in  the  wood.  It  was  uot  much  to 
make  her  suffer  one  day  after  she  had  made  me  mis- 
erable for  three;  and  perhaps  when  she  discovered 


144  GREEN  MANSIONS 

that  I  could  exist  without  her  society  she  would  be- 
gin to  treat  me  less  capriciously. 

So  ran  my  thoughts  as  I  rested  on  the  warm 
ground,  gazing  up  into  the  foliage,  green  as  young 
grass  in  the  lower,  shady  parts,  and  above  luminous 
with  the  bright  sunlight,  and  full  of  the  murmuring 
sounds  of  insect  life.  My  every  action,  word, 
thought,  had  my  feeling  for  Rima  as  a  motive. 
Why,  I  began  to  ask  myself,  was  Rima  so  much  to 
me  ?  It  was  easy  to  answer  that  question :  Because 
nothing  so  exquisite  had  ever  been  created.  All  the 
separate  and  fragmentary  beauty  and  melody  and 
graceful  motion  found  scattered  throughout  nature 
were  concentrated  and  harmoniously  combined  in 
her.  How  various,  how  luminous,  how  divine  she 
was !  A  being  for  the  mind  to  marvel  at,  to  admire 
continually,  finding  some  new  grace  and  charm  every 
hour,  every  moment,  to  add  to  the  old.  And  there 
was,  besides,  the  fascinating  mystery  surrounding 
her  origin  to  arouse  and  keep  my  interest  in  her  con- 
tinually active. 

That  was  the  easy  answer  I  returned  to  the  ques- 
tion I  had  asked  myself.  But  I  knew  that  there  was 
another  answer — a  reason  more  powerful  than  the 
first.  And  I  could  no  longer  thrust  it  back,  or  hide 
its  shining  face  with  the  dull,  leaden  mask  of  mere 
intellectual  curiosity.  Because  I  loved  her;  loved 
her  as  I  had  never  loved  before,  never  could  love  any 
other  being,  with  a  passion  which  had  caught  some- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  145 

thing  of  her  own  brilliance  and  intensity,  making  a 
former  passion  look  dim  and  commonplace  in  com- 
parison— a  feeling  known  to  everyone,  something  old 
and  worn  out,  a  weariness  even  to  think  of. 

From  these  reflections  I  was  roused  by  the  plaintive 
three-syllable  call  of  an  evening  bird — a  nightjar 
common  in  these  woods ;  and  was  surprised  to  find 
that  the  sun  had  set,  and  the  woods  already  shadowed 
with  the  twilight.  I  started  up  and  began  hurriedly 
walking  homewards,  thinking  of  Rima,  and  was  con- 
sumed with  impatience  to  see  her ;  and  as  I  drew  near 
to  the  house,  walking  along  a  narrow  path  which  I 
knew,  I  suddenly  met  her  face  to  face.  Doubtless 
she  had  heard  my  approach,  and  instead  of  shrink- 
ing out  of  the  path  and  allowing  me  to  pass  on  with- 
out seeing  her,  as  she  would  have  done  on  the  previ- 
ous day,  she  had  sprung  forward  to  meet  me.  I  was 
struck  with  wonder  at  the  change  in  her  as  she  came 
with  a  swift,  easy  motion,  like  a  flying  bird,  her  hands 
outstretched  as  if  to  clasp  mine,  her  lips  parted  in  a 
radiant,  welcoming  smile,  her  eyes  sparkling  with  joy. 

I  started  forward  to  meet  her,  but  had  no  sooner 
touched  her  hands  than  her  countenance  changed, 
and  she  shrunk  back  trembling,  as  if  the  touch  had 
chilled  her  warm  blood;  and  moving  some  feet  away, 
she  stood  with  downcast  eyes,  pale  and  sorrowful  as 
she  had  seemed  yesterday.  In  vain  I  implored  her  to 
tell  me  the  cause  of  this  change  and  of  the  trouble 
she  evidently  felt ;  her  lips  trembled  as  if  with  speech. 


146  GREEN  MANSIONS 

but  she  made  no  reply,  and  only  shrunk  further  away 
when  I  attempted  to  approach  her;  and  at  length, 
moving  aside  from  the  path,  she  was  lost  to  sight  in 
the  dusky  leafage. 

I  went  on  alone,  and  sat  outside  for  some  time,  un- 
til old  Nuflo  returned  from  his  hunting;  and  only 
after  he  had  gone  in  and  had  made  the  fire  burn  up 
did  Rima  make  her  appearance,  silent  and  con- 
strained as  ever. 


CHAPTER  X 

kN  the  following  day  Rima  continued  in  the  same 
inexplicable  humour;  and  feeling  my  defeat 
keenly,  I  determined  once  more  to  try  the  effect  of 
absence  on  her,  and  to  remain  away  on  this  occasion 
for  a  longer  period.  Like  old  Nuflo,  I  was  secret  in 
going  forth  next  morning,  waiting  until  the  girl  was 
out  of  the  way,  then  slipping  off  among  the  bushes 
into  the  deeper  wood;  and  finally  quitting  its  shel- 
ter I  set  out  across  the  savannah  towards  my  old 
quarters.  Great  was  my  surprise  on  arriving  at  the 
village  to  find  no  person  there.  At  first  I  imagined 
that  my  disappearance  in  the  forest  of  evil  fame  had 
caused  them  to  abandon  their  home  in  a  panic ;  but 
on  looking  round  I  concluded  that  my  friends  had 
only  gone  on  one  of  their  periodical  visits  to  some 
neighbouring  village.  For  when  these  Indians  visit 
their  neighbours  they  do  it  in  a  very  thorough  man- 
ner; they  all  go,  taking  with  them  their  entire  stock 
of  provisions,  their  cooking  utensils,  weapons,  ham- 
mocks, and  even  their  pet  animals.  Fortunately  in 
this  case  they  had  not  taken  quite  everything;  my 
hammock  was  there,  also  one  small  pot,  some  cassava 

bread,  purple  potatoes,  and  a  few  ears  of  maize.     I 

147 


148  GREEN  MANSIONS 

concluded  that  these  had  been  left  for  me  in  the  event 
of  my  return ;  also  that  they  had  not  been  gone  very 
many  hours,  since  a  log  of  wood  buried  under  the 
ashes  of  the  hearth  was  still  alight.  Now  as  their 
absences  from  home  usually  last  many  days,  it  was 
plain  that  I  would  have  the  big  naked  barn-like  house 
to  myself  for  as  long  as  I  thought  proper  to  remain, 
with  little  food  to  eat ;  but  the  prospect  did  not  dis- 
turb me,  and  I  resolved  to  amuse  myself  with  music. 
In  vain  I  hunted  for  my  guitar;  the  Indians  had 
taken  it  to  delight  their  friends  by  twanging  its 
strings.  At  odd  moments  during  the  last  day  or  two 
I  had  been  composing  a  simple  melody  in  my  brain, 
fitting  it  to  ancient  words ;  and  now,  without  an  in- 
strument to  assist  me,  I  began  softly  singing  to  my- 
self:— 

Muy   mas   clara   que   la   luna 

Sola  una 

en  el  mundo  vos  nacistes. 

After  music  I  made  up  the  fire  and  parched  an  ear 
of  maize  for  my  dinner,  and  while  laboriously  crunch- 
ing the  dry  hard  grain  I  thanked  Heaven  for  having 
bestowed  on  me  such  good  molars.  Finally,  I  slung 
my  hammock  in  its  old  corner,  and  placing  myself  in 
it  in  my  favourite  oblique  position,  my  hands  clasped 
behind  my  head,  one  knee  cocked  up,  the  other  leg 
dangling  down,  I  resigned  myself  to  idle  thought.  I 
felt  very  happy.  How  strange,  thought  I,  with  a 
little  self-flattery,  that  I,  accustomed  to  the  agreeable 


GREEN  MANSIONS  149 

society  of  intelligent  men  and  charming  women,  and 
of  books,  should  find  such  perfect  contentment  here! 
But  I  congratulated  myself  too  soon.  The  profound 
silence  began  at  length  to  oppress  me.  It  was  not 
like  the  forest,  where  one  has  wild  birds  for  company, 
where  their  cries,  albeit  inarticulate,  have  a  meaning 
and  give  a  charm  to  solitude.  Even  the  sight  and 
whispered  sounds  of  green  leaves  and  rushes  trem- 
bling in  the  wind  have  for  us  something  of  intelli- 
gence and  sympathy;  but  I  could  not  commune  with 
mud  walls  and  an  earthen  pot.  Feeling  my  loneli- 
ness too  acutely,  I  began  to  regret  that  I  had  left 
Rima,  then  to  feel  remorse  at  the  secrecy  I  had  prac- 
tised. Even  now,  while  I  inclined  idly  in  my  ham- 
mock, she  would  be  roaming  the  forest  in  search  of 
me,  listening  for  my  footsteps,  fearing  perhaps  that 
I  had  met  with  some  accident  where  there  was  no  per- 
son to  succour  me.  It  was  painful  to  think  of  her  in 
this  way,  of  the  pain  I  had  doubtless  given  her  by 
stealing  off  without  a  word  of  warning.  Springing 
to  the  floor,  I  flung  out  of  the  house  and  went  down 
to  the  stream.  It  was  better  there,  for  now  the 
greatest  heat  of  the  day  was  over,  and  the  westering 
sun  began  to  look  large,  and  red,  and  rayless  through 
the  afternoon  haze. 

I  seated  myself  on  a  stone  within  a  yard  or  two  of 
the  limpid  water:  and  now  the  sight  of  nature  and 
the  warm,  vital  air  and  sunshine  infected  my  spirit, 
and  made  it  possible   for  me  to   face   the  position 


150  GREEN  MANSIONS 

calmly,  even  hopefully.  The  position  was  this:  for 
some  days  the  idea  had  been  present  in  my  mind, 
and  was  now  fixed  there,  that  this  desert  was  to  be 
my  permanent  home.  The  thought  of  going  back 
to  Caracas,  that  little  Paris  in  America,  with  its 
old-world  vices,  its  idle  political  passions,  its  empty 
round  of  gaieties,  was  unendurable.  I  was  changed, 
and  this  change — so  great,  so  complete — was  proof 
that  the  old  artificial  life  had  not  been  and  could  not 
be  the  real  one,  in  harmony  with  my  deeper  and  truer 
nature.  I  deceived  myself,  you  will  say,  as  I  have 
often  myself  said.  I  had  and  I  had  not.  It  is  too 
long  a  question  to  discuss  here;  but  just  then  I  felt 
that  I  had  quitted  the  hot,  tainted  atmosphere  of  the 
ballroom,  that  the  morning  air  of  heaven  refreshed 
and  elevated  me,  and  was  sweet  to  breathe.  Friends 
and  relations  I  had  who  were  dear  to  me ;  but  I  could 
forget  them,  even  as  I  could  forget  the  splendid 
dreams  which  had  been  mine.  And  the  woman  I  had 
loved,  and  who  perhaps  loved  me  in  return — I  could 
forget  her  too.  A  daughter  of  civilisation  and  of 
that  artificial  life,  she  could  never  experience  such 
feelings  as  these  and  return  to  nature  as  I  was  do- 
ing. For  women,  though  within  narrow  limits  more 
plastic  than  men,  are  yet  without  that  larger  adap- 
tiveness  which  can  take  us  back  to  the  sources  of  life, 
which  they  have  left  eternally  behind.  Better,  far 
better  for  both  of  us  that  she  should  wait  through  the 
long,  slow  months,  growing  sick  at  heart  with  hope 


GREEN  MANSIONS  151 

deferred;  that,  seeing  me  no  more,  she  should  weep 
my  loss,  and  be  healed  at  last  by  time,  and  find 
love  and  happiness  again  in  the  old  way,  in  the  old 
place. 

And  while  I  thus  sat  thinking,  sadly  enough,  but 
not  despondingly,  of  past  and  present  and  future, 
all  at  once  on  the  warm,  still  air  came  the  resonant, 
far-reaching  Jcling-Mang  of  the  campanero  from  some 
leafy  summit  half  a  league  away.  Kling-klang  fell 
the  sound  again,  and  often  again,  at  intervals,  af- 
fecting me  strangely  at  that  moment,  so  bell-like,  so 
like  the  great  wide-travelling  sounds  associated  in 
our  minds  with  Christian  worship.  And  yet  so  un- 
like. A  bell,  yet  not  made  of  gross  metal  dug  out 
of  earth,  but  of  an  ethereal,  sublimer  material  that 
floats  impalpable  and  invisible  in  space — a  vital  bell 
suspended  on  nothing,  giving  out  sounds  in  harmony 
with  the  vastness  of  blue  heaven,  the  unsullied  purity 
of  nature,  the  glory  of  the  sun,  and  conveying  a  mys- 
tic, a  higher  message  to  the  soul  than  the  sounds  that 
surge  from  tower  and  belfry. 

O  mystic  bell-bird  of  the  heavenly  race  of  the  swal- 
low and  dove,  the  quetzal  and  the  nightingale! 
When  the  brutish  savage  and  the  brutish  white  man 
that  slay  thee,  one  for  food,  the  other  for  the  benefit 
of  science,  shall  have  passed  away,  live  still,  live  to  tell 
thy  message  to  the  blameless  spiritualised  race  that 
shall  come  after  us  to  possess  the  earth,  not  for  a 
thousand  years,  but  for  ever;  for  how  much  shall  thy 


152  GREEN  MANSIONS 

voice  be  our  clarified  successors  when  even  to  my  dull, 
unpurged  soul,  thou  canst  speak  such  high  things, 
and  bring  it  a  sense  of  an  impersonal,  all-compromis- 
ing One  who  is  in  me  and  I  in  him,  flesh  of  his  flesh 
and  soul  of  his  soul. 

The  sounds  ceased,  but  I  was  still  in  that  exalted 
mood,  and,  like  a  person  in  a  trance,  staring  fixedly 
before  me  into  the  open  wood  of  scattered  dwarf  trees 
on  the  other  side  of  the  stream,  when  suddenly  on  the 
field  of  vision  appeared  a  grotesque  human  figure 
moving  towards  me.  I  started  violently,  astonished 
and  a  little  alarmed,  but  in  a  very  few  moments  I 
recognised  the  ancient  Cla-cla,  coming  home  with  a 
large  bundle  of  dry  sticks  on  her  shoulders,  bent  al- 
most double  under  the  burden,  and  still  ignorant  of 
my  presence.  Slowly  she  came  down  to  the  stream, 
then  cautiously  made  her  way  over  the  line  of  step- 
ping-stones by  which  it  was  crossed ;  and  only  when 
within  ten  yards  did  the  old  creature  catch  sight  of 
me  sitting  silent  and  motionless  in  her  path.  With  a 
sharp  cry  of  amazement  and  terror  she  straightened 
herself  up,  the  bundle  of  sticks  dropping  to  the 
ground,  and  turned  to  run  from  me.  That,  at  all 
events,  seemed  her  intention,  for  her  body  was  thrown 
forward,  and  her  head  and  arms  working  like  those 
of  a  person  going  at  full  speed,  but  her  legs  seemed 
paralysed  and  her  feet  remained  planted  on  the  same 
spot.  I  burst  out  laughing;  whereat  she  twisted 
her  neck  until  her  wrinkled,  brown  old  face  appeared 


GREEN  MANSIONS  153 

over  her  shoulder  staring  at  me.  This  made  me 
laugh  again,  whereupon  she  straightened  herself  up 
once  more  and  turned  round  to  have  a  good  look  at 
me. 

"  Come,  Cla-cla,"  I  cried ;  "  can  you  not  see  that  I 
am  a  living  man  and  no  spirit?  I  thought  no  one 
had  remained  behind  to  keep  me  company  and  give 
me  food.     Why  are  you  not  with  the  others  ?  " 

"  Ah,  why !  "  she  returned  tragically.  And  then 
deliberately  turning  from  me  and  assuming  a  most 
unladylike  attitude,  she  slapped  herself  vigorously 
on  the  small  of  the  back,  exclaiming,  "  Because  of  my 
pain  here !  " 

As  she  continued  in  that  position  with  her  back 
towards  me  for  some  time,  I  laughed  once  more  and 
begged  her  to  explain. 

Slowly  she  turned  round  and  advanced  cautiously 
towards  me,  staring  at  me  all  the  time.  Finally, 
still  eyeing  me  suspiciously,  she  related  that  the  oth- 
ers had  all  gone  on  a  visit  to  a  distant  village,  she 
starting  with  them :  that  after  going  some  distance  a 
pain  had  attacked  her  in  her  hind  quarters3  so  sud- 
den and  acute  that  it  had  instantly  brought  her  to  a 
full  stop ;  and  to  illustrate  how  full  the  stop  was  she 
allowed  herself  to  go  down,  very  unnecessarily,  with  a 
flop  to  the  ground.  But  she  no  sooner  touched  the 
ground  than  up  she  started  to  her  feet  again,  with 
an  alarmed  look  on  her  owlish  face,  as  if  she  had  sat 
down  on  a  stinging-nettle. 


154  GREEN  MANSIONS 

"  We  thought  you  were  dead,"  she  remarked,  still 
thinking  that  I  might  be  a  ghost  after  all. 

"  No,  still  alive,"  I  said.  "  And  so  because  you 
came  to  the  ground  with  your  pain  they  left  you 
behind!  Well,  never  mind,  Cla-cla,  we  are  two  now 
and  must  try  to  be  happy  together." 

By  this  time  she  had  recovered  from  her  fear  and 
began  to  feel  highly  pleased  at  my  return,  only 
lamenting  that  she  had  no  meat  to  give  me.  She 
was  anxious  to  hear  my  adventures,  and  the  reason  of 
my  long  absence.  I  had  no  wish  to  gratify  her  cu- 
riosity, with  the  truth  at  all  events,  knowing  very 
well  that  with  regard  to  the  daughter  of  the  Didi 
her  feelings  were  as  purely  savage  and  malignant  as 
those  of  Kua-ko.  But  it  was  necessary  to  say  some- 
thing, and,  fortifying  myself  with  the  good  old  Span- 
ish notion  that  lies  told  to  the  heathen  are  not  re- 
corded, I  related  that  a  venomous  serpent  had  bitten 
me ;  after  which  a  terrible  thunderstorm  had  sur- 
prised me  in  the  forest,  and  night  coming  on  pre- 
vented my  escape  from  it ;  then,  next  day,  remember- 
ing that  he  who  is  bitten  by  a  serpent  dies,  and  not 
wishing  to  distress  my  friends  with  the  sight  of  my 
dissolution,  I  elected  to  remain,  sitting  there  in  the 
wood,  amusing  myself  by  singing  songs  and  smoking 
cigarettes ;  and  after  several  days  and  nights  had 
gone  by,  finding  that  I  was  not  going  to  die  after 
all,  and  beginning  to  feel  hungry,  I  got  up  and  came 
back. 


GREEN  MANSIONS  155 

Old  Cla-cla  looked  very  serious,  shaking  and  nod- 
ding her  head  a  great  deal,  muttering  to  herself; 
finally,  she  gave  it  as  her  opinion  that  nothing  ever 
would  or  could  kill  me ;  but  whether  my  story  had 
been  believed  or  not  she  only  knew. 

I  spent  an  amusing  evening  with  my  old  savage 
hostess.  She  had  thrown  off  her  ailments,  and 
pleased  at  having  a  companion  in  her  dreary  soli- 
tude, she  was  good-tempered  and  talkative,  and  much 
more  inclined  to  laugh  than  when  the  others  were 
present,  when  she  was  on  her  dignity. 

We  sat  by  the  fire,  cooking  such  food  as  we  had, 
and  talked  and  smoked;  then  I  sang  her  songs  in 
Spanish  with  that  melody  of  my  own — 

Muy   mas   clara   que   la   luna; 

and  she  rewarded  me  by  emitting  a  barbarous  chant 
in  a  shrill,  screechy  voice;  and,  finally,  starting  up, 
I  danced  for  her  benefit  polka,  mazurka,  and  valse, 
whistling  and  singing  to  my  motions. 

More  than  once  during  the  evening  she  tried  to 
introduce  serious  subjects,  telling  me  that  I  must  al- 
ways live  with  them,  learn  to  shoot  the  birds  and  catch 
the  fishes,  and  have  a  wife ;  and  then  she  would  speak 
of  her  granddaughter  Oalava,  whose  virtues  it  was 
proper  to  mention,  but  whose  physical  charms  needed 
no  description  since  they  had  never  been  concealed. 
Each  time  she  got  on  this  topic  I  cut  her  short,  vow- 
ing that  if  I  ever  married  she  only  should  be  my  wife. 


156  GREEN  MANSIONS 

She  informed  me  that  she  was  old  and  past  her  fruit- 
ful period ;  that  not  much  longer  would  she  make  cas- 
sava-bread, and  blow  the  fire  to  a  fiame  with  her 
wheezy  old  bellows,  and  talk  the  men  to  sleep  at 
night.  But  I  stuck  to  it  that  she  was  young  and 
beautiful,  that  our  descendants  would  be  more  nu- 
merous than  the  birds  in  the  forest.  I  went  out  to 
some  bushes  close  by,  where  I  had  noticed  a  passion 
plant  in  bloom,  and  gathering  a  few  splendid  scarlet 
blossoms  with  their  stems  and  leaves,  I  brought  them 
in  and  wove  them  into  a  garland  for  the  old  dame's 
head;  then  I  pulled  her  up,  in  spite  of  screams  and 
struggles,  and  waltzed  her  wildly  to  the  other  end 
of  the  room  and  back  again  to  her  seat  beside  the  fire. 
And  as  she  sat  there,  panting  and  grinning  with 
laughter,  I  knelt  before  her,  and  with  suitable  pas- 
sionate gestures,  declaimed  again  the  old  delicate 
lines  sung  by  Mena  before  Columbus  sailed  the 
seas : — 

Muy  mas  clara  que  la  luna 
Sola  una 

en  el  mundo  vos  nacistes 
tan  gentil,  que  no  vecistes 
ni   tuvistes 

competedora   ninguna 
Desdi  niiiez  en   la  cuna 
cobrastes  fama,  beldad, 
con  tanta  graciosidad, 
que  vos  dotd  la  fortuna. 

Thinking  of  another  all  the  time !     O  poor  old  Cla- 
cla,  knowing  not  what  the  jingle  meant  nor  the  secret 


GREEN  MANSIONS  157 

of  my  wild  happiness,  now  when  I  recall  you  sitting 
there,  your  old  grey  owlish  head  crowned  with  scarlet 
passion  flowers,  flushed  with  firelight,  against  the 
background  of  smoke-blackened  walls  and  rafters, 
how  the  old  undying  sorrow  comes  back  to  me ! 

Thus  our  evening  was  spent,  merrily  enough;  then 
we  made  up  the  fire  with  hard  wood  that  would  last 
all  night,  and  went  to  our  hammocks,  but  wakeful 
still.  The  old  dame,  glad  and  proud  to  be  on  duty 
once  more,  religiously  went  to  work  to  talk  me  to 
sleep ;  but  although  I  called  out  at  intervals  to  en- 
courage her  to  go  on,  I  did  not  attempt  to  follow 
the  ancient  tales  she  told,  which  she  had  imbibed 
in  childhood  from  other  white-headed  grandmothers 
long,  long  turned  to  dust.  My  own  brain  was  busy 
thinking,  thinking,  thinking  now  of  the  woman  I  had 
once  loved,  far  away  in  Venezuela,  waiting  and  weep- 
ing and  sick  with  hope  deferred ;  now  of  Rima,  wake- 
ful and  listening  to  the  mysterious  night-sounds  of 
the  forest — listening,  listening  for  my  returning 
footsteps. 

Next  morning  I  began  to  waver  in  my  resolution 
to  remain  absent  from  Rima  for  some  days:  and 
before  evening  my  passion,  which  I  had  now  ceased  to 
struggle  against,  coupled  with  the  thought  that  I  had 
acted  unkindly  in  leaving  her,  that  she  would  be  a 
prey  to  anxiety,  overcame  me,  and  I  was  ready  to 
return.     The  old  woman,  who  had  been  suspiciously 


158  GREEN  MANSIONS 

watching  my  movements,  rushed  out  after  me  as  I 
left  the  house,  crying  out  that  a  storm  was  brewing, 
that  it  was  too  late  to  go  far,  and  night  would  be  full 
of  danger.  I  waved  my  hand  in  good-bye,  laugh- 
ingly reminding  her  that  I  was  proof  against  all  per- 
ils. Little  she  cared  what  evil  might  befall  me,  I 
thought ;  but  she  loved  not  to  be  alone ;  even  for  her, 
low  down  as  she  was  intellectually,  the  solitary 
earthen  pot  had  no  "  mind  stuff  "  in  it,  and  could 
not  be  sent  to  sleep  at  night  with  the  legends  of  long 
ago. 

By  the  time  I  reached  the  ridge  I  had  discovered 
that  she  had  prophesied  truly,  for  now  an  ominous 
change  had  come  over  nature.  A  dull  grey  vapour 
had  overspread  the  entire  western  half  of  the  heav- 
ens ;  down,  beyond  the  forest,  the  sky  looked  black 
as  ink,  and  behind  this  blackness  the  sun  had  van- 
ished. It  was  too  late  to  go  back  now;  I  had  been 
too  long  absent  from  Rima,  and  could  only  hope  to 
reach  Nuflo's  lodge,  wet  or  dry,  before  night  closed 
round  me  in  the  forest. 

For  some  moments  I  stood  still  on  the  ridge,  struck 
by  the  somewhat  weird  aspect  of  the  shadowed  scene 
before  me — the  long  strip  of  dull  uniform  green, 
with  here  and  there  a  slender  palm  lifting  its  feathery 
crown  above  the  other  trees,  standing  motionless,  in 
strange  relief  against  the  advancing  blackness. 
Then  I  set  out  once  more  at  a  run,  taking  advantage 
of  the  downward  slope  to  get  well  on  my  way  before 


GREEN  MANSIONS  159 

the  tempest  should  burst.  As  I  approached  the 
wood  there  came  a  flash  of  lightning,  pale,  but  cov- 
ering the  whole  visible  sky,  followed  after  a  long 
interval  by  a  distant  roll  of  thunder,  which  lasted 
several  seconds,  and  ended  with  a  succession  of  deep 
throbs.  It  was  as  if  Nature  herself,  in  supreme  an- 
guish and  abandonment,  had  cast  herself  prone  on 
the  earth,  and  her  great  heart  had  throbbed  audibly, 
shaking  the  world  with  its  beats.  No  more  thunder 
followed,  but  the  rain  was  coming  down  heavily  now 
in  huge  drops  that  fell  straight  through  the  gloomy, 
windless  air.  In  half  a  minute  I  was  drenched  to  the 
skin ;  but  for  a  short  time  the  rain  seemed  an  advan- 
tage, as  the  brightness  of  the  falling  water  lessened 
the  gloom,  turning  the  air  from  dark  to  lighter  grey. 
This  subdued  rain-light  did  not  last  long:  I  had  not 
been  twenty  minutes  in  the  wood  before  a  second  and 
greater  darkness  fell  on  the  earth,  accompanied  by 
an  even  more  copious  downpour  of  water.  The  sun 
had  evidently  gone  down,  and  the  whole  sky  was  now 
covered  with  one  thick  cloud.  Becoming  more  nerv- 
ous as  the  gloom  increased,  I  bent  my  steps  more  to 
the  south,  so  as  to  keep  near  the  border  and  more 
open  part  of  the  wood.  Probably  I  had  already 
grown  confused  before  deviating  and  turned  the 
wrong  way,  for  instead  of  finding  the  forest  eas- 
ier, it  grew  closer  and  more  difficult  as  I  advanced. 
Before  many  minutes  the  darkness  so  increased  that 
I  could  no  longer  distinguish  objects  more  than  five 


160  GREEN  MANSIONS 

feet  from  my  eyes.  Groping  blindly  along,  I  became 
entangled  in  a  dense  undergrowth,  and  after  strug- 
gling and  stumbling  along  for  some  distance  in  vain 
endeavours  to  get  through  it,  I  came  to  a  stand  at 
last  in  sheer  despair.  All  sense  of  direction  was  now 
lost :  I  was  entombed  in  thick  blackness — blackness 
of  night  and  cloud  and  rain  and  of  dripping  foliage 
and  network  of  branches  bound  with  bush-ropes  and 
creepers  in  a  wild  tangle.  I  had  struggled  into  a 
hollow,  or  hole,  as  it  were,  in  the  midst  of  that  mass 
of  vegetation,  where  I  could  stand  upright  and  turn 
round  and  round  without  touching  anything;  but 
when  I  put  out  my  hands  they  came  into  contact 
with  vines  and  bushes.  To  move  from  that  spot 
seemed  folly ;  yet  how  dreadful  to  remain  there  stand- 
ing on  the  sodden  earth,  chilled  with  rain,  in  that 
awful  blackness  in  which  the  only  luminous  thing  one 
could  look  to  see  would  be  the  eyes,  shining  with  their 
own  internal  light,  of  some  savage  beast  of  prey. 
Yet  the  danger,  the  intense  physical  discomfort,  and 
the  anguish  of  looking  forward  to  a  whole  night  spent 
in  that  situation,  stung  my  heart  less  than  the 
thought  of  Rima's  anxiety  and  of  the  pain  I  had 
carelessly  given  by  secretly  leaving  her. 

It  was  then,  with  that  pang  in  my  heart,  that  I 
was  startled  by  hearing,  close  by,  one  of  her  own  low, 
warbled  expressions.  There  could  be  no  mistake ; 
if  the  forest  had  been  full  of  the  sounds  of  animal  life 
and  songs  of  melodious  birds,  her  voice  would  have 


GREEN  MANSIONS  161 

been  instantly  distinguished  from  all  others.  How 
mysterious,  how  infinitely  tender  it  sounded  in  that 
awful  blackness ! — so  musical  and  exquisitely  modu- 
lated, so  sorrowful,  yet  piercing  my  heart  with  a  sud- 
den, unutterable  joy. 

"  Rima !  Rima !  "  I  cried.  "  Speak  again.  Is  it 
you?     Come  to  me  here." 

Again  that  low,  warbling  sound,  or  series  of 
sounds,  seemingly  from  a  distance  of  a  few  yards.  I 
was  not  disturbed  at  her  not  replying  in  Spanish :  she 
had  always  spoken  it  somewhat  reluctantly,  and 
only  when  at  my  side;  but  when  calling  to  me  from 
some  distance  she  would  return  instinctively  to  her 
own  mysterious  language,  and  call  to  me  as  bird  calls 
to  bird.  I  knew  that  she  was  inviting  me  to  follow 
her,  but  I  refused  to  move. 

"  Rima,"  I  cried  again,  "  come  to  me  here,  for  I 
know  not  where  to  step,  and  cannot  move  until  you 
are  at  my  side,  and  I  can  feel  your  hand." 

There  came  no  response,  and  after  some  moments, 
becoming  alarmed,  I  called  to  her  again. 

Then  close  by  me,  in  a  low,  trembling  voice,  she 
returned,  "  I  am  here." 

I  put  out  my  hand  and  touched  something  soft  and 
wet;  it  was  her  breast,  and  moving  my  hand  higher 
up,  I  felt  her  hair,  hanging  now  and  streaming  with 
water.  She  was  trembling,  and  I  thought  the  rain 
had  chilled  her. 

"  Rima — poor   child !     How   wet  you   are !     How 


162  GREEN  MANSIONS 

strange  to  meet  you  in  such  a  place !     Tell  me,  dear 
Rima,  how  did  you  find  me?  " 

"  I  was  waiting — watching — all  day.  I  saw  you 
coming  across  the  savannah,  and  followed  at  a  dis- 
tance through  the  wood." 

"  And  I  had  treated  you  so  unkindly !  Ah,  my 
guardian  angel,  my  light  in  the  darkness,  how  I  hate 
myself  for  giving  you  pain !  Tell  me,  sweet,  did  you 
wish  me  to  come  back  and  live  with  you  again?  " 

She  made  no  reply.  Then,  running  my  fingers 
down  her  arm,  I  took  her  hand  in  mine.  It  was  hot, 
like  the  hand  of  one  in  a  fever.  I  raised  it  to  my 
lips,  and  then  attempted  to  draw  her  to  me,  but  she 
slipped  down  and  out  of  my  arms  to  my  feet.  I  felt 
her  there,  on  her  knees,  with  head  bowed  low. 
Stooping  and  putting  my  arm  round  her  body,  I 
drew  her  up  and  held  her  against  my  breast,  and  felt 
her  heart  throbbing  wildly.  With  many  endearing 
words  I  begged  her  to  speak  to  me;  but  her  only 
reply  was,  "  Come — come,"  as  she  slipped  again  out 
of  my  arms,  and  holding  my  hand  in  hers,  guided 
me  through  the  bushes. 

Before  long  we  came  to  an  open  path  or  glade, 
where  the  darkness  was  not  profound;  and  releas- 
ing my  hand  she  began  walking  rapidly  before  me, 
always  keeping  at  such  a  distance  as  just  enabled 
me  to  distinguish  her  grey,  shadowy  figure,  and  with 
frequent  doublings  to  follow  the  natural  paths  and 
openings  which  she  knew  so  well.     In  this  way  we 


GREEN  MANSIONS  163 

kept  on  nearly  to  the  end,  without  exchanging  a 
word,  and  hearing  no  sound  except  the  continuous 
rush  of  rain,  which  to  our  accustomed  ears  had 
ceased  to  have  the  effect  of  sound,  and  the  various 
gurgling  noises  of  innumerable  runnels.  All  at  once, 
as  we  came  to  a  more  open  place,  a  strip  of  bright 
firelight  appeared  before  us,  shining  from  the  half- 
open  door  of  Nuflo's  lodge  She  turned  round  as 
much  as  to  say,  "  Now  you  know  where  you  are," 
then  hurried  on,  leaving  me  to  follow  as  best  I  could. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THERE  was  a  welcome  change  in  the  weather 
when  I  rose  early  next  morning;  the  sky  was 
without  cloud,  and  had  that  purity  in  its  colour  and 
look  of  infinite  distance  seen  only  when  the  atmos- 
phere is  free  from  vapour.  The  sun  had  not  yet 
risen,  but  old  Nuflo  was  already  among  the  ashes,  on 
his  hands  and  knees,  blowing  the  embers  he  had  un- 
covered to  a  flame.  Then  Rima  appeared  only  to 
pass  through  the  room  with  quick  light  tread  to  go 
out  of  the  door  without  a  word  or  even  a  glance  at 
my  face.  The  old  man,  aiter  watching  at  the  door 
for  a  few  minutes,  turned  and  began  eagerly  ques- 
tioning me  about  my  adventures  on  the  previous 
evening.  In  reply  I  related  to  him  how  the  girl  had 
found  me  in  the  forest  lost  and  unable  to  extricate 
myself  from  the  tangled  undergrowth. 

He  rubbed  his  hands  on  his  knees  and  chuckled. 
"  Happy  for  you,  senor,"  he  said,  "  that  my  grand- 
daughter regards  you  with  such  friendly  eyes,  other- 
wise you  might  have  perished  before  morning.  Once 
she  was  at  your  side,  no  light,  whether  of  sun  or 
moon  or  lantern,  was  needed,  nor  that  small  instru- 
ment which  is  said  to  guide  a  man  aright  in  the  des- 

164 


GREEN  MANSIONS  165 

ert,  even  in  the  darkest  night — let  him  that  can  be- 
lieve such  a  thing !  " 

"  Yes,  happy  for  me,"  I  returned.  "  I  am  filled 
with  remorse  that  it  was  all  through  my  fault  that 
the  poor  child  was  exposed  to  such  weather." 

"  O  senor,"  he  cried  airily,  **  let  not  that  distress 
you!  Rain  and  wind  and  hot  suns,  from  which  we 
seek  shelter,  do  not  harm  her.  She  takes  no  cold, 
and  no  fever,  with  or  without  ague." 

After  some  further  conversation  I  left  him  to  steal 
away  unobserved  on  his  own  account,  and  set  out  for 
a  ramble  in  the  hope  of  encountering  Rima  and  win- 
ning her  to  talk  to  me. 

My  quest  did  not  succeed:  not  a  glimpse  of  her 
delicate  shadowy  form  did  I  catch  among  the  trees ; 
and  not  one  note  from  her  melodious  lips  came  to 
gladden  me.  At  noon  I  returned  to  the  house,  where 
I  found  food  placed  ready  for  me,  and  knew  that  she 
had  come  there  during  my  absence  and  had  not  been 
forgetful  of  my  wants.  "  Shall  I  thank  you  for 
this?  "  I  said.  "  I  ask  you  for  heavenly  nectar  for 
the  sustentation  of  the  higher  winged  nature  in  me, 
and  you  give  me  a  boiled  sweet  potato,  toasted  strips 
of  sun-dried  pumpkins,  and  a  handful  of  parched 
maize !  Rima !  Rima !  my  woodland  fairy,  my  sweet 
saviour,  why  do  you  yet  fear  me?  Is  it  that  love 
struggles  in  you  with  repugnance?  Can  you  discern 
with  clear  spiritual  eyes  the  grosser  elements  in  me, 
and  hate  them ;  or  has  some  false  imagination  made 


166  GREEN  MANSIONS 

me  appear  all  dark  and  evil,  but  too  late  for  your 
peace,  after  the  sweet  sickness  of  love  has  infected 


you 


But  she  was  not  there  to  answer  me,  and  so  after  a 
time  I  went  forth  again  and  seated  myself  listlessly 
on  the  root  of  an  old  tree  not  far  from  the  house. 
I  had  sat  there  a  full  hour,  when  all  at  once  Rima 
appeared  at  my  side.  Bending  forward  she  touched 
my  hand,  but  without  glancing  at  my  face ;  "  Come 
with  me,"  she  said,  and  turning,  moved  swiftly  to- 
wards the  northern  extremity  of  the  forest.  She 
seemed  to  take  it  for  granted  that  I  would  follow, 
never  casting  a  look  behind,  nor  pausing  in  her  rapid 
walk;  but  I  was  only  too  glad  to  obey,  and  starting 
up,  was  quickly  after  her.  She  led  me  by  easy  wa}Ts, 
familiar  to  her,  with  many  doublings  to  escape  the 
undergrowth,  never  speaking  or  pausing  until  we 
came  out  from  the  thick  forest,  and  I  found  myself 
for  the  first  time  at  the  foot  of  the  great  hill  or 
mountain  Ytaioa.  Glancing  back  for  a  few  mo- 
ments, she  waved  a  hand  towards  the  summit,  and 
then  at  once  began  the  ascent.  Here  too  it  seemed 
all  familiar  ground  to  her.  From  below  the  sides 
had  presented  an  exceedingly  rugged  appearance — a 
wild  confusion  of  huge  jagged  rocks,  mixed  with  a 
tangled  vegetation  of  trees,  bushes,  and  vines ;  but 
following  her  in  all  her  doublings  it  became  easy 
enough,  although  it  fatigued  me  greatly  owing  to  our 
rapid  pace.     The  hill  was  conical,  but  I  found  that 


GREEN  MANSIONS  167 

it  had  a  flat  top ;  an  oblong  or  pear-shaped  area, 
almost  level,  of  a  soft,  crumbly  sandstone,  with  a 
few  blocks  and  boulders  of  a  harder  stone  scattered 
about;  and  no  vegetation,  except  the  grey  mountain 
lichen  and  a  few  sere-looking  dwarf  shrubs. 

Here  Rima,  at  a  distance  of  a  few  yards  from  me, 
remained  standing  still  for  some  minutes,  as  if  to  give 
me  time  to  recover  my  breath ;  and  I  was  right  glad 
to  sit  down  on  a  stone  to  rest.  Finally  she  walked 
slowly  to  the  centre  of  the  level  area,  which  was  about 
two  acres  in  extent ;  rising  I  followed  her,  and  climb- 
ing on  to  a  huge  block  of  stone,  began  gazing  at  the 
wide  prospect  spread  out  before  me.  The  day  was 
windless  and  bright,  with  only  a  few  white  clouds 
floating  at  a  great  height  above  and  casting  travel- 
ling shadows  over  that  wild,  broken  country,  where 
forest,  marsh,  and  savannah  were  only  distinguish- 
able by  their  different  colours,  like  the  greys  and 
greens  and  yellows  on  a  map.  At  a  great  distance 
the  circle  of  the  horizon  was  broken  here  and  there 
by  mountains,  but  the  hills  in  our  neighbourhood 
were  all  beneath  our  feet. 

After  gazing  all  round  for  some  minutes,  I  jumped 
down  from  my  stand,  and  leaning  against  the  stone, 
stood  watching  the  girl,  waiting  for  her  to  speak. 
I  felt  convinced  that  she  had  something  of  the  very 
highest  importance  (to  herself)  to  communicate,  and 
that  only  the  pressing  need  of  a  confidant,  not  Nuflo, 
had  overcome  her  shyness  of  me ;  and  I  determined 


168  GREEN  MANSIONS 

to  let  her  take  her  own  time  to  say  it  in  her  own  way. 
For  a  while  she  continued  silent,  her  face  averted, 
but  her  little  movements  and  the  way  she  clasped 
and  unclasped  her  fingers  showed  that  she  was  anx- 
ious and  her  mind  working.  Suddenly,  half  turn- 
ing to  me,  she  began  speaking  eagerly  and  rapidly. 

"  Do  you  see,"  she  said,  waving  her  hand  to  indi- 
cate the  whole  circuit  of  earth,  "how  large  it  is? 
Look ! "  pointing  now  to  mountains  in  the  west. 
"  Those  are  the  Vahanas — one,  two,  three — the  high- 
est— I  can  tell  you  their  names — Vahana-Chara, 
Chumi,  Aranoa.  Do  you  see  that  water?  It  is  a 
river,  called  Guaypero.  From  the  hills  it  comes 
down,  Inaruna  is  their  name,  and  you  can  see  them 
there  in  the  south — far,  far."  And  in  this  way  she 
went  on  pointing  out  and  naming  all  the  mountains 
and  rivers  within  sight.  Then  she  suddenly  dropped 
her  hands  to  her  sides,  and  continued,  "  That  is  all. 
Because  we  can  see  no  further.  But  the  world  is 
larger  than  that!  Other  mountains,  other  rivers. 
Have  I  not  told  you  of  Voa,  on  the  River  Voa,  where 
I  was  born,  where  mother  died,  where  the  priest 
taught  me,  years,  years  ago?  All  that  you  cannot 
see,  it  is  so  far  away — so  far." 

I  did  not  laugh  at  her  simplicity,  nor  did  I  smile 
or  feel  any  inclination  to  smile.  On  the  contrary,  I 
only  experienced  a  sympathy  so  keen  that  it  was  like 
pain,  while  watching  her  clouded  face,  so  changeful 
in  its  expression,  yet  in  all  changes  so  wistful.     I 


GREEN  MANSIONS  169 

could  not  yet  form  any  idea  as  to  what  she  wished 
to  communicate  or  to  discover,  but  seeing  that  she 
paused  for  a  reply  I  answered,  "  The  world  is  so 
large,  Rima,  that  we  can  only  see  a  very  small  por- 
tion of  it  from  any  one  spot.  Look  at  this,"  and 
with  a  stick  I  had  used  to  aid  me  in  my  ascent  I 
traced  a  circle  six  or  seven  inches  in  circumference 
on  the  soft  stone  and  in  its  centre  placed  a  small 
pebble.  "  This  represents  the  mountain  we  are 
standing  on,"  I  continued,  touching  the  pebble ; 
"  and  this  line  encircling  it  encloses  all  of  the  earth 
we  can  see  from  the  mountain-top.  Do  you  under- 
stand?— the  line  I  have  traced  is  the  blue  line  of  the 
horizon  beyond  which  we  cannot  see.  And  outside 
of  this  little  circle  is  all  the  flat  top  of  Ytaioa  repre- 
senting the  world.  Consider,  then,  how  small  a  por- 
tion of  the  world  we  can  see  from  this  spot ! " 

"  And  do  you  know  it  all?  "  she  returned  excitedly. 
"All  the  world?"  waving  her  hand  to  indicate  the 
little  stone  plain.  "  All  the  mountains,  and  rivers, 
and  forests — all  the  people  in  the  world?  " 

"  That  would  be  impossible,  Rima ;  consider  how 
large  it  is." 

"  That  does  not  matter.  Come,  let  us  go  together 
— we  two  and  grandfather,  and  see  all  the  world ;  all 
the  mountains  and  forests,  and  know  all  the  people." 

"  You  do  not  know  what  you  are  saying,  Rima. 
You  might  as  well  say,  £  Come,  let  us  go  to  the  sun 
and  find  out  everything  in  it.'  " 


170  GREEN  MANSIONS 

"  It  is  you  who  do  not  know  what  you  are  say- 
ing," she  retorted,  with  brightening  eyes  which  for  a 
moment  glanced  full  into  mine.  "  We  have  no  wings 
like  birds  to  fly  to  the  sun.  Am  I  not  able  to  walk 
on  the  earth,  and  run?  Can  I  not  swim?  Can  I  not 
climb  every  mountain?  " 

"  No,  you  cannot.  You  imagine  that  all  the  earth 
is  like  this  little  portion  you  see.  But  it  is  not  all 
the  same.  There  are  great  rivers  which  you  cannot 
cross  by  swimming;  mountains  you  cannot  climb; 
forests  you  cannot  penetrate — dark,  and  inhabited 
by  dangerous  beasts,  and  so  vast  that  all  this  space 
your  eyes  look  on  is  a  mere  speck  of  earth  in  com- 
parison." 

She  listened  excitedly.  "  Oh,  do  you  know  all 
that?  "  she  cried,  with  a  strangely  brightening  look; 
and  then  half  turning  from  me,  she  added,  with  sud-- 
den  petulance,  "  Yet  only  a  minute  ago  you  knew 
nothing  of  the  world— because  it  is  so  large !  Is 
anything  to  be  gained  by  speaking  to  one  who  says 
such  contrary  things  ?  " 

I  explained  that  I  had  not  contradicted  myself, 
that  she  had  not  rightly  interpreted  my  words.  I 
knew,  I  said,  something  about  the  principal  features 
of  the  different  countries  of  the  world,  as,  for  in- 
stance, the  largest  mountain  ranges,  and  rivers,  and 
the  cities.  Also  something,  but  very  little,  about 
the  tribes  of  savage  men.      She  heard  me  with  impa- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  171 

tience,  which  made  me  speak  rapidly,  in  very  general 
terms ;  and  to  simplify  the  matter  I  made  the  world 
stand  for  the  continent  we  were  in.  It  seemed  idle 
to  go  beyond  that,  and  her  eagerness  would  not  have 
allowed  it. 

"  Tell  me  all  you  know,"  she  said  the  moment  I 
ceased  speaking.  "  What  is  there — and  there — and 
there?"  pointing  in  various  directions.  "Rivers 
and  forests — they  are  nothing  to  me.  The  villages, 
the  tribes,  the  people  everywhere ;  tell  me,  for  I  must 
know  it  all." 

"  It  would  take  long  to  tell,  Rima." 

"  Because  you  are  so  slow.  Look  how  high  the 
sun  is  !  Speak,  speak !  What  is  there  ?  "  pointing 
to  the  north. 

"  All  that  country,"  I  said,  waving  my  hands  from 
east  to  west,  "  Is  Guayana ;  and  so  large  is  it  that 
you  could  go  in  this  direction,  or  in  this,  travelling 
for  months,  without  seeing  the  end  of  Guayana. 
Still  it  would  be  Guayana ;  rivers,  rivers,  rivers,  with 
forests  between,  and  other  forests  and  rivers  beyond. 
And  savage  people,  nations  and  tribes — Guahibo, 
Aguaricoto,  Ayano,  Maco,  Piaroa,  Quiriquiripo, 
Tuparito — shall  I  name  a  hundred  more?  It  would 
be  useless,  Rima ;  they  are  all  savages,  and  live 
widely  scattered  in  the  forests,  hunting  with  bow 
and  arrow  and  the  zabatana.  Consider,  thens  how 
large  Guayana  is  !  " 


172  GREEN  MANSIONS 

"  Guayana — Guayana !  Do  I  not  know  all  this  is 
Guayana?  But  beyond,  and  beyond,  and  beyond? 
Is  there  no  end  to  Guayana?  " 

"  Yes ;  there  northwards  it  ends  at  the  Orinoco,  a 
mighty  river,  coming  from  mighty  mountains,  com- 
pared with  which  Ytaioa  is  like  a  stone  on  the  ground 
on  which  we  have  sat  down  to  rest.  You  must  know 
that  Guayana  is  only  a  portion,  a  half,  of  our  coun- 
try, Venezuela.  Look,"  I  continued,  putting  my 
hand  round  my  shoulder  to  touch  the  middle  of  my 
back,  "  there  is  a  groove  running  down  my  spine 
dividing  my  body  into  equal  parts.  Thus  does  the 
great  Orinoco  divide  Venezuela,  and  on  one  side  of 
it  is  all  Guayana ;  and  on  the  other  side  the  countries 
or  provinces  of  Cumana,  Maturin,  Barcelona,  Boli- 
var, Guarico,  Apure,  and  many  others."  I  then 
gave  a  rapid  description  of  the  northern  half  of 
the  country,  with  its  vast  llanos  covered  with  herds 
in  one  part,  its  plantations  of  coffee,  rice,  and  sugar- 
cane in  another,  and  its  chief  towns ;  last  of  all 
Caracas,  the  gay  and  opulent  little  Paris  in  America. 

This  seemed  to  weary  her;  but  the  moment  I 
ceased  speaking,  and  before  I  could  well  moisten  my 
dry  lips,  she  demanded  to  know  what  came  after 
Caracas — after  all  Venezuela. 

"  The   ocean — water,  water,  water,"   I   replied. 

"  There  are  no  people  there — in  the  water ;  only 
fishes,"    she    remarked;    then    suddenly    continued, 


GREEN  MANSIONS  173 

"  Why  are  you  silent — is  Venezuela,  then,  all  the 
world?  " 

The  task  I  had  set  myself  to  perform  seemed  only 
at  its  commencement  yet.  Thinking  how  to  pro- 
ceed with  it  my  eyes  roved  over  the  level  area  we 
were  standing  on,  and  it  struck  me  that  this  little 
irregular  plain,  broad  at  one  end,  and  almost  pointed 
at  the  other,  roughly  resembled  the  South  American 
continent  in  its  form. 

"  Look,  Rima,"  I  began,  "  here  we  are  on  this 
small  pebble — Ytaioa;  and  this  line  round  it  shuts 
us  in — we  cannot  see  beyond.  Now  let  us  imagine 
that  we  can  see  beyond — that  we  can  see  the  whole 
flat  mountain-top ;  and  that,  you  know,  is  the  whole 
world.  Now  listen  while  I  tell  you  of  all  the  coun- 
tries, and  principal  mountains,  and  rivers,  and  cities 
of  the  world." 

The  plan  I  had  now  fixed  on  involved  a  great  deal 
of  walking  about  and  some  hard  work  in  moving 
and  setting  up  stones  and  tracing  boundary  and 
other  lines ;  but  it  gave  me  pleasure,  for  Rima  was 
close  by  all  the  time,  following  me  from  place  to 
place,  listening  to  all  I  said  in  silence  but  with  keen 
interest.  At  the  broad  end  of  the  level  summit  I 
marked  out  Venezuela,  showing  by  means  of  a  long 
line  how  the  Orinoco  divided  it,  and  also  marking 
several  of  the  greater  streams  flowing  into  it.  I  also 
marked  the  sites  of  Caracas  and  other  large  towns 


174  GREEN  MANSIONS 

with  stones;  and  rejoiced  that  we  are  not  like  the 
Europeans,  great  city  builders,  for  the  stones  proved 
heavy  to  lift.  Then  followed  Colombia  and  Ecuador 
on  the  west ;  and,  successively,  Bolivia,  Peru,  Chile, 
ending  at  last  in  the  south  with  Patagonia,  a  cold 
arid  land,  bleak  and  desolate.  I  marked  the  lit- 
toral cities  as  we  progressed  on  that  side,  where 
earth  ends  and  the  Pacific  Ocean  begins,  and  infini- 
tude. 

Then,  in  a  sudden  burst  of  inspiration,  I  described 
the  Cordilleras  to  her — that  world-long,  stupendous 
chain ;  its  sea  of  Titicaca,  and  wintry,  desolate 
Paramo,  where  lie  the  ruins  of  Tiahuanaco,  older 
than  Thebes.  I  mentioned  its  principal  cities — 
those  small  inflamed  or  festering  pimples  that  at- 
tract much  attention  from  appearing  on  such  a  body. 
Quito,  called — not  in  irony,  but  by  its  own  people — 
the  Splendid  and  the  Magnificent;  so  high  above  the 
earth  as  to  appear  but  a  little  way  removed  from 
heaven — "  de  Quito  al  cielo,"  as  the  saying  is.  But 
of  its  sublime  history,  its  kings  and  conquerors,  Hay- 
mar  Capac  the  Mighty,  and  Huascar,  and  Ata- 
hualpa  the  Unhappy,  not  one  word.  Many  words 
— how  inadequate ! — of  t;he  summits,  white  with 
everlasting  snows,  above  it — above  this  navel  of  the 
world,  above  the  earth,  the  ocean,  the  darkening 
tempest,  the  condor's  flight.  Flame-breathing  Co- 
topaxi,  whose  wrathful  mutterings  are  audible  two 
hundred  leagues   away,   and   Chimborazo,  Antisana, 


GREEN  MANSIONS  175 

Sarata,  Illimani,  Aconcagua — names  of  mountains 
that  affect  us  like  the  names  of  gods,  implacable 
Pachacamac  and  Viracocha,  whose  everlasting  gran- 
ite thrones  they  are.  At  the  last  I  showed  her 
Cuzco,  the  city  of  the  sun,  and  the  highest  dwelling- 
place  of  men  on  earth. 

I  was  carried  away  by  so  sublime  a  theme;  and 
remembering  that  I  had  no  critical  hearer,  I  gave 
free  reins  to  fancy,  forgetting  for  the  moment  that 
some  undiscovered  thought  or  feeling  had  prompted 
her  questions.  And  while  I  spoke  of  the  mountains 
she  hung  on  my  words,  following  me  closely  in  my 
walk,  her  countenance  brilliant,  her  frame  quivering 
with  excitement. 

There  yet  remained  to  be  described  all  that  un- 
imaginable space  east  of  the  Andes ;  the  rivers — 
what  rivers ! — the  green  plains  that  are  like  the  sea 
— the  illimitable  waste  of  water  where  there  is  no 
land — and  the  forest  region.  The  very  thought  of 
the  Amazonian  forest  made  my  spirit  droop.  If  I 
could  have  snatched  her  up  and  placed  her  on  the 
dome  of  Chimborazo  she  would  have  looked  on  an 
area  of  ten  thousand  square  miles  of  earth,  so  vast 
is  the  horizon  at  that  elevation.  And  possibly  her 
imagination  would  have  been  able  to  clothe  it  all 
with  an  unbroken  forest.  Yet  how  small  a  portion 
this  would  be  of  the  stupendous  whole — of  a  forest 
region  equal  in  extent  to  the  whole  of  Europe!  All 
loveliness,  all  grace,  all  majesty  are  there;  but  we 


176  GREEN  MANSIONS 

cannot  see,  cannot  conceive — come  away !  From 
this  vast  stage,  to  be  occupied  in  the  distant  future 
by  millions  and  myriads  of  beings,  like  us  of  upright 
form,  the  nations  that  will  be  born  when  all  the 
existing  dominant  races  on  the  globe  and  the  civilisa- 
tions they  represent  have  perished  as  utterly  as  those 
who  sculptured  the  stones  of  old  Tiahuanaco — from 
this  theatre  of  palms  prepared  for  a  drama  unlike 
any  which  the  Immortals  have  yet  witnessed — I  hur- 
ried away;  and  then  slowly  conducted  her  along  the 
Atlantic  coast,  listening  to  the  thunder  of  its  great 
waves,  and  pausing  at  intervals  to  survey  some  mari- 
time city. 

Never  probably  since  old  Father  Noah  divided 
the  earth  among  his  sons  had  so  grand  a  geographi- 
cal discourse  been  delivered;  and  having  finished,  J 
sat  down,  exhausted  with  my  efforts,  and  mopped 
my  brow,  but  glad  that  my  huge  task  was  over,  and 
satisfied  that  I  had  convinced  her  of  the  futility  of 
her  wish  to  see  the  world  for  herself. 

Her  excitement  had  passed  away  by  now.  She 
was  standing  a  little  apart  from  me,  her  eyes  cast 
down  and  thoughtful.  At  length  she  approached 
me  and  said,  waving  her  hand  all  round,  "  What  is 
beyond  the  mountains  over  there,  beyond  the  cities 
on  that  side — beyond  the  world?  " 

"  Water,  only  water.  Did  I  not  tell  you  ?  "  I 
returned  stoutly ;  for  I  had,  of  course,  sunk  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama  beneath  the  sea. 


GREEN  MANSIONS  177 

"Water!     All  round?"  she  persisted. 

"  Yes." 

"Water,  and  no  beyond?  Only  water — always 
water?  " 

I  could  no  longer  adhere  to  so  gross  a  lie.  She 
was  too  intelligent,  and  I  loved  her  too  much. 
Standing  up,  I  pointed  to  distant  mountains  and 
isolated  peaks. 

"  Look  at  those  peaks,"  I  said.  "  It  is  like  that 
with  the  world — this  world  we  are  standing  on. 
Beyond  that  great  water  that  flows  all  round  the 
world,  but  far  away,  so  far  that  it  would  take 
months  in  a  big  boat  to  reach  them,  there  are  islands, 
some  small,  others  as  large  as  this  world.  But., 
Rima,  they  are  so  far  away,  so  impossible  to  reach, 
that  it  is  useless  to  speak  or  to  think  of  them.  They 
are  to  us  like  the  sun  and  moon  and  stars,  to  which 
we  cannot  fly.  And  now  sit  down  and  rest  by  mj 
side,  for  you  know  everything." 

She  glanced  at  me  with  troubled  eyes. 

"  Nothing  do  I  know — nothing  have  you  told  me. 
Did  I  not  say  that  mountains  and  rivers  and  forests 
are  nothing?  Tell  me  about  all  the  people  in  the 
world.  Look !  there  is  Cuzco  over  there,  a  city  like 
no  other  in  the  world — did  you  not  tell  me  so?  Of 
the  people  nothing.  Are  they  also  different  from  all 
others  in  the  world  ?  " 

"  I  will  tell  you  that  if  you  will  first  answer  me 
one  Question,  Rima." 


178  GREEN  MANSIONS 

She  drew  a  little  nearer,  curious  to  hear,  but  was 
silent. 

"  Promise  that  you  will  answer  me,"  I  persisted, 
and  as  she  continued  silent  I  added,  "  Shall  I  not 
ask  you,  then?  " 

"  Say,"  she  murmured. 

"  Why  do  you  wish  to  know  about  the  people  of 
Cuzco?" 

She  flashed  a  look  at  me,  then  averted  her  face. 
For  some  moments  she  stood  hesitating,  then  coming 
closer,  touched  me  on  the  shoulder,  and  said  softly, 
"  Turn  away,  do  not  look  at  me." 

I  obeyed,  and  bending  so  close  that  I  felt  her  warm 
breath  on  my  neck,  she  whispered,  "  Are  the  people 
in  Cuzco  like  me?  Would  they  understand  me — the 
things  you  cannot  understand?     Do  you  know?" 

Her  tremulous  voice  betrayed  her  agitation,  and 
her  words,  I  imagined,  revealed  the  motive  of  her  ac- 
tion in  bringing  me  to  the  summit  of  Ytaioa,  and  of 
her  desire  to  visit  and  know  all  the  various  peoples  in- 
habiting the  world.  She  had  begun  to  realise,  after 
knowing  me,  her  isolation  and  unlikeness  to  others, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  dream  that  all  human  beings 
might  not  be  unlike  her  and  unable  to  understand 
her  mysterious  speech  and  to  enter  into  her  thoughts 
and  feelings. 

"  I  can  answer  that  question,  Rima,"  I  said. 
"  Ah,  no,  poor  child,  there  are  none  there  like  you — 
not   one,   not   one.     Of   all   there — priests,   soldiers, 


GREEN  MANSIONS  179 

merchants,  workmen,  white,  black,  red,  and  mixed ; 
men  and  women,  old  and  young,  rich  and  poor,  ugly 
and  beautiful — not  one  would  understand  the  sweet 
language  you  speak." 

She  said  nothing,  and  glancing  round,  I  discovered 
that  she  was  walking  away,  her  fingers  clasped  be- 
fore her,  her  eyes  cast  down,  and  looking  profoundly 
dejected.  Jumping  up,  I  hurried  after  her.  "  Lis- 
ten 1 "  I  said,  coming  to  her  side.  "  Do  you  know 
that  there  are  others  in  the  world  like  you  who  would 
understand  your  speech?  " 

"  Oh,  do  I  not !  Yes — mother  told  me.  I  was 
young  when  you  died,  but,  O  mother,  why  did  you 
not  tell  me  more?  " 

"But  where?" 

"  Oh,  do  you  not  think  that  I  would  go  to  them  if 
I  knew — that  I  would  ask?  " 

"  Does  Nuflo  know?  " 

She  shook  her  head,  walking  dejectedly  along. 

"  But  have  you  asked  him  ?  "  I  persisted. 

"  Have  I  not !     Not  once — not  a  hundred  times." 

Suddenly  she  paused.  "  Look,"  she  said,  "  now 
we  are  standing  in  Guayana  again.  And  over  there 
in  Brazil,  and  up  there  towards  the  Cordilleras  it  is 
unknown.  And  there  are  people  there.  Come,  let 
us  go  and  seek  for  my  mother's  people  in  that  place. 
With  grandfather,  but  not  the  dogs ;  they  would 
frighten  the  animals  and  betray  us  by  barking  to 
cruel  men  who  would  slay  us  with  poisoned  arrows." 


180  GREEN  MANSIONS 

"  O  Rima,  can  you  not  understand?  It  is  too 
far.  And  your  grandfather,  poor  old  man,  would 
die  of  weariness  and  hunger  and  old  age  in  some 
strange  forest." 

"Would  he  die — old  grandfather?  Then  we 
could  cover  him  up  with  palm  leaves  in  the  forest 
and  leave  him.  It  would  not  be  grandfather;  only 
his  body  that  must  turn  to  dust.  He  would  be 
away — away  where  the  stars  are.  We  should  not 
die,  but  go  on,  and  on,  and  on." 

To  continue  the  discussion  seemed  hopeless.  I 
was  silent,  thinking  of  what  I  had  heard — that  there 
were  others  like  her  somewhere  in  that  vast  green 
world,  so  much  of  it  imperfectly  known,  so  many 
districts  never  yet  explored  by  white  men.  True,  it 
was  strange  that  no  report  of  such  a  race  had 
reached  the  ears  of  any  traveller ;  yet  here  was  Rima 
herself  at  my  side,  a  living  proof  that  such  a  race 
did  exist.  Nuflo  probably  knew  more  than  he  would 
say ;  I  had  failed,  as  we  have  seen,  to  win  the  secret 
from  him  by  fair  means,  and  could  not  have  recourse 
to  foul — the  rack  and  thumbscrew — to  wring  it  from 
him.  To  the  Indians  she  was  only  an  object  of  su- 
perstitious fear — a  daughter  of  the  Didi — and  to 
them  nothing  of  her  origin  was  known.  And  she, 
poor  girl,  had  only  a  vague  remembrance  of  a  few 
words  heard  in  childhood  from  her  mother,  and 
probably  not  rightly  understood. 

While   these  thoughts   had  been  passing  through 


GREEN  MANSIONS  181 

my  mind  Rima  had  been  standing  silent  by,  waiting, 
perhaps,  for  an  answer  to  her  last  words.  Then 
stooping,  she  picked  up  a  small  pebble  and  tossed 
it  three  or  four  yards  away. 

"  Do  you  see  where  it  fell  ?  "  she  cried,  turning 
towards  me.  "  That  is  on  the  border  of  Guayana — 
is  it  not?     Let  us  go  there  first.  " 

"  Rima,  how  you  distress  me !  We  cannot  go 
there.  It  is  all  a  savage  wilderness,  almost  unknown 
to  men — a  blank  on  the  map " 

"  The  map  ? — speak  no  word  that  I  do  not  under- 
stand." 

In  a  very  few  words  I  explained  my  meaning ;  even 
fewer  would  have  sufficed,  so  quick  was  her  appre- 
hension. 

"  If  it  is  a  blank,"  she  returned  quickly,  "  then  you 
know  of  nothing  to  stop  us — no  river  we  cannot 
swim,  and  no  great  mountains  like  those  where  Quito 
is." 

"  But  I  happen  to  know,  Rima,  for  it  has  been  re- 
lated to  me  by  old  Indians,  that  of  all  places  that  is 
the  most  difficult  of  access.  There  is  a  river  there, 
and  although  it  is  not  on  the  map,  it  would  prove 
more  impassable  to  us  than  the  mighty  Orinoco  and 
Amazon.  It  has  vast  malarious  swamps  on  its  bor- 
ders, overgrown  with  dense  forest,  teeming  with 
savage  and  venomous  animals,  so  that  even  the  In- 
dians dare  not  venture  near  it.  And  even  before  the 
river  is  reached  there  is  a  range  of  precipitous  moun- 


182  GREEN  MANSIONS 

tains  called  by  the  same  name — just  there  where 
your  pebble  fell — the  mountains  of  Riolama " 

Hardly  had  the  name  fallen  from  my  lips  before  a 
change  swift  as  lightning  came  over  her  counten- 
ance; all  doubt,  anxiety,  petulance,  hope,  and  des- 
pondence, and  these  in  ever-varying  degrees,  chasing 
each  other  like  shadows,  had  vanished,  and  she  was 
instinct  and  burning  with  some  new  powerful  emotion 
which  had  flashed  into  her  soul. 

"  Riolama !  Riolama !  "  she  repeated  so  rapidly 
and  in  a  tone  so  sharp  that  it  tingled  in  the  brain. 
"  That  is  the  place  I  am  seeking !  There  was  my 
mother  found — there  are  her  people  and  mine ! 
Therefore  was  I  called  Riolama — that  is  my  name !  " 

*'  Rima ! "  I  returned,  astonished  at  her  words. 

"  No,  no,  no — Riolama.  When  I  was  a  child,  and 
the  priest  baptised  me,  he  named  me  Riolama — the 
place  where  my  mother  was  found.  But  it  was  long 
to  say,  and  they  called  me  Rima." 

Suddenly  she  became  still,  and  then  cried  in  a  ring- 
ing voice — 

"  And  he  knew  it  all  along — that  old  man — he 
knew  that  Riolama  was  near — only  there  where  the 
pebble  fell — that  we  could  go  there !  " 

While  speaking  she  turned  towards  her  home, 
pointing  with  raised  hand.  Her  whole  appearance 
now  reminded  me  of  that  first  meeting  with  her  when 
the  serpent  bit  me ;  the  soft  red  of  her  irides  shone 
like  fire,  her  delicate  skin  seemed  to  glow  with  an 


GREEN  MANSIONS  183 

intense  rose-colour,  and  her  frame  trembled  with  her 
agitation,  so  that  her  loose  cloud  of  hair  was  in 
motion  as  if  blown  through  by  the  wind. 

"  Traitor !  Traitor ! "  she  cried,  still  looking 
homewards  and  using  quick,  passionate  gestures. 
"  It  was  all  known  to  you,  and  you  deceived  me  all 
these  years;  even  to  me,  Rima,  you  lied  with  your 
lips!  Oh,  horrible!  Was  there  ever  such  a  scandal 
known  in  Guayana?  Come,  follow  me,  let  us  go  at 
once  to  Riolama."  And  without  so  much  as  casting 
a  glance  behind  to  see  whether  I  followed  or  no,  she 
hurried  away,  and  in  a  couple  of  minutes  disappeared 
from  sight  over  the  edge  of  the  flat  summit. 

"  Rima !  Rima !  Come  back  and  listen  to  me ! 
Oh,  you  are  mad !     Come  back  !     Come  back !  " 

But  she  would  not  return  or  pause  and  listen ; 
and  looking  after  her  I  saw  her  bounding  down 
the  rocky  slope  like  some  wild,  agile  creature  pos- 
sessed of  padded  hoofs  and  an  infallible  instinct ; 
and  before  many  minutes  she  vanished  from  sight 
among  crags  and  trees  lower  down. 

"  Nuflo,  old  man,"  said  I,  looking  out  towards  his 
lodge,  "are  there  no  shooting  pains  in  those  old 
bones  of  yours  to  warn  you  in  time  of  the  tempest 
about  to  burst  on  your  head?  " 

Then  I  sat  down  to  think. 


CHAPTER  XII 

TO  follow  impetuous,  bird-like  Rima  in  her 
descent  of  the  hill  would  have  been  impossible, 
nor  had  I  any  desire  to  be  a  witness  of  old  Nuflo's 
discomfiture  at  the  finish.  It  was  better  to  leave 
them  to  settle  their  quarrel  themselves,  while  I  occu- 
pied myself  in  turning  over  these  fresh  facts  in  my 
mind  to  find  out  how  they  fitted  into  the  speculative 
structure  I  had  been  building  during  the  last  two  or 
three  weeks.  But  it  soon  struck  me  that  it  was 
getting  late,  that  the  sun  would  be  gone  in  a  couple 
of  hours ;  and  at  once  I  began  the  descent.  It  was 
not  accomplished  without  some  bruises  and  a  good 
many  scratches.  After  a  cold  draught,  obtained 
by  putting  my  lips  to  a  black  rock  from  which  the 
water  was  trickling,  I  set  out  on  my  walk  home, 
keeping  near  the  western  border  of  the  forest  for 
fear  of  losing  myself.  I  had  covered  about  half  the 
distance  from  the  foot  of  the  hill  to  Nuflo's  lodge 
when  the  sun  went  down.  Away  on  my  left  the 
evening  uproar  of  the  howling  monkeys  burst  out, 
and  after  three  or  four  minutes  ceased ;  the  after 
silence  was  pierced  at  intervals  by  screams  of  birds 
going  to  roost  among  the  trees  in  the  distance,  and 

by  many  minor  sounds  close  at  hand,  of  small  bird, 

184 


GREEN  MANSIONS  185 

frog,  and  insect.  The  western  sky  was  now  like 
amber-coloured  flame,  and  against  that  immeasur- 
ably distant  luminous  background  the  near  branches 
and  clustered  foliage  looked  black;  but  on  my  left 
hand  the  vegetation  still  appeared  of  a  uniform 
dusky  green.  In  a  little  while  night  would  drown 
all  colour,  and  there  would  be  no  light  but  that  of 
the  wandering  lantern-fly,  always  unwelcome  to  the 
belated  walker  in  a  lonely  place,  since,  like  the  ignis 
fatuus,  it  is  confusing  to  the  sight  and  sense  of 
direction. 

With  increasing  anxiety  I  hastened  on,  when  all 
at  once  a  low  growl  issuing  from  the  bushes  some 
yards  ahead  of  me  brought  me  to  a  stop.  In  a 
moment  the  dogs,  Susio  and  Goloso,  rushed  out 
from  some  hiding-place  furiously  barking;  but  they 
quickly  recognised  me  and  slunk  back  again.  Re- 
lieved from  fear,  I  walked  on  for  a  short  distance ; 
then  it  struck  me  that  the  old  man  must  be  about 
somewhere,  as  the  dogs  scarcely  ever  stirred  from 
his  side.  Turning  back  I  went  to  the  spot  where 
they  had  appeared  to  me;  and  there,  after  a  while, 
I  caught  sight  of  a  dim,  yellow  form,  as  one  of  the 
brutes  rose  up  to  look  at  me.  He  had  been  lying  on 
the  ground  by  the  side  of  a  wide-spreading  bush, 
dead  and  dry,  but  overgrown  by  a  creeping  plant 
which  had  completely  covered  its  broad,  flat  top  like 
a  piece  of  tapestry  thrown  over  a  table,  its  slender 
terminal  stems  and  leaves  hanging  over  the  edge  like 


186  GREEN  MANSIONS 

a  deep  fringe.  But  the  fringe  did  not  reach  to  the 
ground,  and  under  the  bush,  in  its  dark  interior,  I 
caught  sight  of  the  other  dog;  and  after  gazing  in 
for  some  time  I  also  discovered  a  black,  recumbent 
form,  which  I  took  to  be  Nuflo. 

"  What  are  you  doing  there,  old  man?  "  I  cried. 
"  Where  is  Rima — have  you  not  seen  her  ?  Come 
out." 

Then  he  stirred  himself,  slowly  creeping  out  on  all 
fours ;  and,  finally,  getting  free  of  the  dead  twigs 
and  leaves,  he  stood  up  and  faced  me.  He  had  a 
strange,  wild  look,  his  white  beard  all  disordered, 
moss  and  dead  leaves  clinging  to  it,  his  eyes  staring 
like  an  owl's,  while  his  mouth  opened  and  shut,  the 
teeth  striking  together  audibly,  like  an  angry  pec- 
cary's. After  silently  glaring  at  me  in  this  mad  way 
for  some  moments  he  burst  out :  "  Cursed  be  the 
day  when  I  first  saw  you,  man  of  Caracas !  Cursed 
be  the  serpent  that  bit  you  and  had  not  sufficient 
power  in  its  venom  to  kill !  Ha !  you  come  from 
Ytaioa,  where  you  talked  with  Rima?  And  you 
have  now  returned  to  the  tiger's  den  to  mock  that 
dangerous  animal  with  the  loss  of  its  whelp.  Fool, 
if  you  did  not  wish  the  dogs  to  feed  on  your  flesh  it 
would  have  been  better  if  you  had  taken  your  evening 
walk  in  some  other  direction." 

These  raging  words  did  not  have  the  effect  of 
alarming  me  in  the  least,  nor  even  of  astonishing  me 
very  much,  albeit  up  till  now  the  old  man  had  always 


GREEN  MANSIONS  187 

shown  himself  suave  and  respectful.  His  attack  did 
not  seem  quite  spontaneous.  In  spite  of  the  wildness 
of  his  manner  and  the  violence  of  his  speech,  he 
appeared  to  be  acting  a  part  which  he  had  rehearsed 
beforehand.  I  was  only  angry,  and  stepping  for- 
ward I  dealt  him  a  very  sharp  rap  with  my  knuckles 
on  his  chest.  "  Moderate  your  language,  old  man," 
I  said ;  "  remember  that  you  are  addressing  a  supe- 
rior." 

"What  do  you  say  to  me?"  he  screamed  in  a 
shrill,  broken  voice,  accompanying  his  words  with 
emphatic  gestures.  "  Do  you  think  you  are  on  the 
pavement  of  Caracas?  Here  are  no  police  to  pro- 
tect you — -here  we  are  alone  in  the  desert  where  names 
and  titles  are  nothing,  standing  man  to  man." 

"  An  old  man  to  a  young  one,"  I  returned.  "  And 
in  virtue  of  my  youth  I  am  your  superior.  Do  you 
wish  me  to  take  you  by  the  throat  and  shake  your 
insolence  out  of  you?  " 

"What,  do  you  threaten  me  with  violence?"  he 
exclaimed,  throwing  himself  into  a  hostile  attitude. 
"  You,  the  man  I  saved,  and  sheltered,  and  fed,  and 
treated  like  a  son !  Destroyer  of  my  peace,  have 
you  not  injured  me  enough?  You  have  stolen  my 
grandchild's  heart  from  me ;  with  a  thousand  inven- 
tions you  have  driven  her  mad !  My  child,  my  angel, 
Rima,  my  saviour!  With  your  lying  tongue  you 
have  changed  her  into  a  demon  to  persecute  me! 
And  you  are  not  satisfied,  but  must  finish  your  evil 


188  GREEN  MANSIONS 

work  by  inflicting  blows  on  my  worn  body!  All, 
all  is  lost  to  me!  Take  my  life  if  you  wish  it,  for 
now  it  is  worth  nothing,  and  I  desire  not  to  keep  it !  " 
And  here  he  threw  himself  on  his  knees,  and  tearing 
open  his  old,  ragged  mantle,  presented  his  naked 
breast  to  me.  "  Shoot !  Shoot ! "  he  screeched. 
"  And  if  you  have  no  weapon  take  my  knife  and 
plunge  it  into  this  sad  heart,  and  let  me  die !  "  And 
drawing  his  knife  from  its  sheath,  he  flung  it  down  at 
my  feet. 

All  this  performance  only  served  to  increase  my 
anger  and  contempt ;  but  before  I  could  make  any 
reply  I  caught  sight  of  a  shadowy  object  at  some 
distance  moving  towards  us — something  grey  and 
formless,  gliding  swift  and  noiseless,  like  some  great 
low-flying  owl  among  the  trees.  It  was  Rima,  and 
hardly  had  I  seen  her  before  she  was  with  us,  facing 
old  Nuflo,  her  whole  frame  quivering  with  passion, 
her  wide-open  eyes  appearing  luminous  in  that  dim 
light. 

"  You  are  here ! "  she  cried  in  that  quick,  ringing 
tone  that  was  almost  painful  to  the  sense.  "  You 
thought  to  escape  me !  To  hide  yourself  from  my 
eyes  in  the  wood !  Miserable !  Do  you  not  know 
that  I  have  need  of  you — that  I  have  not  finished 
with  you  yet?  Do  you  then  wish  to  be  scourged  to 
Riolama  with  thorny  twigs — to  be  dragged  thither 
by  the  beard?  " 

He  had  been  staring  open-mouthed  at  her,  still  on 


GREEN  MANSIONS  189 

his  knees,  and  holding  his  mantle  open  with  his  skinny 
hands.  "  Rima !  Rima !  have  mercy  on  me ! "  he 
cried  out  piteously.  "  Oh,  my  child,  I  cannot  go  to 
Riolama,  it  is  so  far — so  far.  And  I  am  old  and 
should  meet  my  death.  Oh,  Rima,  child  of  the 
woman  I  saved  from  death,  have  you  no  compassion? 
I  shall  die,  I  shall  die !  " 

"  Shall  you  die?  Not  until  you  have  shown  me 
the  way  to  Riolama.  And  when  I  have  seen  Riolama 
with  my  eyes  then  you  may  die,  and  I  shall  be  glad 
at  your  death ;  and  the  children  and  the  grand- 
children and  cousins  and  friends  of  all  the  animals 
you  have  slain  and  fed  on  shall  know  that  you  are 
dead  and  be  glad  at  your  death.  For  you  have  de- 
ceived me  with  lies  all  these  years — even  me — and 
are  not  fit  to  live !  Come  now  to  Riolama ;  rise 
instantly,  I  command  you !  " 

Instead  of  rising  he  suddenly  put  out  his  hand  and 
snatched  up  the  knife  from  the  ground.  "  Do  you 
then  wish  me  to  die?  "  he  cried.  "  Shall  you  be  glad 
at  my  death?  Behold,  then  I  shall  slay  myself  be- 
fore your  e}'es.  By  my  own  hand,  Rima,  I  am  now 
about  to  perish,  striking  the  knife  into  my  heart !  " 

While  speaking  he  waved  the  knife  in  a  tragic 
manner  over  his  head,  but  I  made  no  movement;  I 
was  convinced  that  he  had  no  intention  of  taking 
his  own  life — that  he  was  still  acting.  Riwa,  in- 
capable of  understanding  such  a  thing,  to«*k  it  differ- 
ently. 


190  GREEN  MANSIONS 

"  Oh,  you  are  going  to  kill  yourself ! "  she  cried. 
"  Oh,  wicked  man,  wait  until  you  know  what  will  hap- 
pen to  you  after  death.  All  shall  now  be  told  to  my 
mother.     Hear  my  words,  then  kill  yourself." 

She  also  now  dropped  on  to  her  knees,  and  lifting 
her  clasped  hands  and  fixing  her  resentful  sparkling 
eyes  on  the  dim  blue  patch  of  heaven  visible  beyond 
the  tree-tops,  began  to  speak  rapidly  in  clear,  vibrat- 
ing tones.  She  was  praying  to  her  mother  in  heaven ; 
and  while  Nuflo  listened  absorbed,  his  mouth  open, 
his  eyes  fixed  on  her,  the  hand  that  clutched  the 
knife  dropped  to  his  side.  I  also  heard  with  the 
greatest  wonder  and  admiration.  For  she  had  been 
shy  and  reticent  with  me,  and  now,  as  if  oblivious  of 
my  presence,  she  was  telling  aloud  the  secrets  of  her 
inmost  heart, 

"  O  mother,  mother,  listen  to  me,  to  Rima,  your 
beloved  child !  "  she  began.  "  All  these  years  I  have 
been  wickedly  deceived  by  grandfather — Nuflo — the 
old  man  that  found  you.  Often  have  I  spoken  to 
him  of  Riolama,  where  you  once  were,  and  your 
people  are,  and  he  denied  all  knowledge  of  such  a 
place.  Sometimes  he  said  that  it  was  at  an  immense 
distance,  in  a  great  wilderness  full  of  serpents  larger 
than  the  trunks  of  great  trees,  and  of  evil  spirits 
and  savage  men,  slayers  of  all  strangers.  At  other 
times  he  affirmed  that  no  such  place  existed;  that  it 
was  a  tale  told  by  the  Indians ;  such  false  things 


GREEN  MANSIONS  191 

did  he  say  to  me — to  Rima,  your  child.  0  mother, 
can  you  believe  such  wickedness? 

"  Then  a  stranger,  a  white  man  from  Venezuela, 
came  into  our  woods :  this  is  the  man  that  was  bitten 
by  a  serpent,  and  his  name  is  Abel:  only  I  do  not 
call  him  by  that  name,  but  by  other  names  which  I 
have  told  you.  But  perhaps  you  did  not  listen,  or 
did  not  hear,  for  I  spoke  softly  and  not  as  now,  on 
my  knees,  solemnly.  For  I  must  tell  you,  O  mother, 
that  after  you  died  the  priest  at  Voa  told  me  repeat- 
edly that  when  I  prayed,  whether  to  you  or  to  any 
of  the  saints,  or  to  the  Mother  of  Heaven,  I  must 
speak  as  he  had  taught  me,  if  I  wished  to  be  heard 
and  understood.  And  that  was  most  strange,  since 
you  had  taught  me  differently ;  but  you  were  living 
then,  at  Voa,  and  now  that  you  are  in  Heaven  per- 
haps you  know  better.  Therefore  listen  to  me  now, 
O  mother,  and  let  nothing  I  say  escape  you. 

"  When  this  white  man  had  been  for  some  days 
with  us  a  strange  thing  happened  to  me,  which  made 
me  different,  so  that  I  was  no  longer  Rima,  although 
Rima  still — so  strange  was  this  thing;  and  I  often 
went  to  the  pool  to  look  at  myself  and  see  the  change 
in  me,  but  nothing  different  could  I  see.  In  the  first 
place  it  came  from  his  eyes  passing  into  mine,  and 
filling  me  just  as  the  lightning  fills  a  cloud  at  sunset: 
afterwards  it  was  no  longer  from  his  eyes  only,  but 
it  came  into  me  whenever  I  saw  him,  even  at  a  dis- 


192  GREEN  MANSIONS 

tance,  when  I  heard  his  voice,  and  most  of  all  when 
he  touched  me  with  his  hand.  When  he  is  out  of 
my  sight  I  cannot  rest  until  I  see  him  again ;  and 
when  I  see  him  then  I  am  glad,  yet  in  such  fear  and 
trouble  that  I  hide  myself  from  him.  0  mother,  it 
could  not  be  told ;  for  once  when  he  caught  me  in  his 
arms  and  compelled  me  to  speak  of  it  he  did  not 
understand;  yet  there  was  need  to  tell  it;  then  it 
came  to  me  that  only  to  our  people  could  it  be  told, 
for  they  would  understand,  and  reply  to  me,  and  tell 
me  what  to  do  in  such  a  case. 

"  And  now,  0  mother,  this  is  what  happened  next. 
I  went  to  grandfather  and  first  begged  and  then  com- 
manded him  to  take  me  to  Riolama ;  but  he  would 
not  obey,  nor  give  attention  to  what  I  said,  but  when- 
ever I  spoke  to  him  of  it  he  rose  up  and  hurried  from 
me ;  and  when  I  followed  he  flung  back  a  confused  and 
angry  reply,  saying  in  the  same  breath  that  it  was  so 
long  since  he  had  been  to  Riolama  that  he  had  for- 
gotten where  it  was,  and  that  no  such  place  existed. 
And  which  of  his  words  were  true  and  which  false 
I  knew  not:  so  that  it  would  have  been  better  if  he 
had  returned  no  answer  at  all ;  and  there  was  no  help 
to  be  got  from  him.  And  having  thus  failed,  and 
there  being  no  other  person  to  speak  to  except  this 
stranger,  I  determined  to  go  to  him,  and  in  his  com- 
pany seek  through  the  whole  world  for  my  people. 
This  will  surprise  you,  0  mother,  because  of  that 
fear  which  came  on  me  in  his  presence,  causing  me 


GREEN  MANSIONS  193 

to  hide  from  his  sight ;  but  my  wish  was  so  great  that 
for  a  time  it  overcame  my  fear;  so  that  I  went  to 
him  as  he  sat  alone  in  the  wood,  sad  because  he  could 
not  see  me,  and  spoke  to  him,  and  led  him  to  the  sum- 
mit of  Ytaioa  to  show  me  all  the  countries  of  the 
world  from  the  summit.  And  you  must  also  know 
that  I  tremble  in  his  presence,  not  because  I  fear  him 
as  I  fear  Indians  and  cruel  men;  for  he  has  no  evil 
in  him,  and  is  beautiful  to  look  at,  and  his  words  are 
gentle,  and  his  desire  is  to  be  always  with  me,  so  that 
he  differs  from  all  other  men  I  have  seen,  just  as  I 
differ  from  all  women,  except  from  you  only,  O  sweet 
mother. 

"  On  the  mountain-top  he  marked  out  and  named 
all  the  countries  of  the  world,  the  great  mountains, 
the  rivers,  the  plains,  the  forests,  the  cities ;  and  told 
me  also  of  the  peoples,  whites  and  savages,  but  of  our 
people  nothing.  And  beyond  where  the  world  ends 
there  is  water,  water,  water.  And  when  he  spoke  of 
that  unknown  part  on  the  borders  of  Guayana,  on 
the  side  of  the  Cordilleras,  he  named  the  mountains 
of  Riolama,  and  in  that  way  I  first  found  out  where 
my  people  are.  I  then  left  him  on  Ytaioa,  he  re- 
fusing to  follow  me,  and  ran  to  grandfather  and 
taxed  him  with  his  falsehoods ;  and  he,  finding  I  knew 
all,  escaped  from  me  into  the  woods,  where  I  have 
now  found  him  once  more,  talking  with  the  stranger. 
And  now,  O  mother,  seeing  himself  caught  and  un- 
able to  escape  a  second  time,  he  has  taken  up  a  knife 


194  GREEN  MANSIONS 

to  kill  himself,  so  as  not  to  take  me  to  Riolama ;  and 
he  is  only  waiting  until  I  finish  speaking  to  you,  for 
I  wish  him  to  know  what  will  happen  to  him  after 
death.  Therefore,  0  mother,  listen  well  and  do 
what  I  tell  you.  When  he  has  killed  himself,  and  has 
come  into  that  place  where  you  are,  see  that  he  does 
not  escape  the  punishment  he  merits.  Watch  well 
for  his  coming,  for  he  is  full  of  cunning  and  deceit, 
and  will  endeavour  to  hide  himself  from  your  eyes. 
When  you  have  recognised  him — an  old  man,  brown 
as  an  Indian,  with  a  white  beard — point  him  out  to 
the  angels,  and  say,  '  This  is  Nuflo,  the  bad  man  that 
lied  to  Rima.'  Let  them  take  him  and  singe  his 
wings  with  fire,  so  that  he  may  not  escape  by  flying ; 
and  afterwards  thrust  him  into  some  dark  cavern 
under  a  mountain,  and  place  a  great  stone  that  a 
hundred  men  could  not  remove  over  its  mouth,  and 
leave  him  there  alone  and  in  the  dark  for  ever !  " 

Having  ended,  she  rose  quickly  from  her  knees, 
and  at  the  same  moment  Nuflo,  dropping  the  knife, 
cast  himself  prostrate  at  her  feet. 

"  Rima — my  child,  my  child,  not  that !  "  he  cried 
out  in  a  voice  that  was  broken  with  terror.  He  tried 
to  take  hold  of  her  feet  with  his  hands,  but  she 
shrank  from  him  with  aversion ;  still  he  kept  on 
crawling  after  her  like  a  disabled  lizard,  abjectly 
imploring  her  to  forgive  him,  reminding  her  that  he 
had  saved  from  death  the  woman  whose  enmity  had 
now  been  enlisted  against  him,  and  declaring  that  he 


GREEN  MANSIONS  195 

would  do  anything  she  commanded  him,  and  gladly 
perish  in  her  service. 

It  was  a  pitiable  sight,  and  moving  quickly  to  her 
side  I  touched  her  on  the  shoulder  and  asked  her  to 
forgive  him. 

The  response  came  quickly  enough.  Turning  to 
him  once  more  she  said :  "  I  forgive  you,  grand- 
father.    And  now  get  up  and  take  me  to  Riolama." 

He  rose,  but  only  to  his  knees.  "  But  you  have 
not  told  her!  "  he  said,  recovering  his  natural  voice, 
although  still  anxious,  and  jerking  a  thumb  over  his 
shoulder.  "  Consider,  my  child,  that  I  am  old  and 
shall  doubtless  perish  on  the  way.  What  would  be- 
come of  my  soul  in  such  a  case?  For  now  you  have 
told  her  everything,  and  it  will  not  be  forgotten." 

She  regarded  him  in  silence  for  a  few  moments, 
then  moving  a  little  way  apart,  dropped  on  to  her 
knees  again,  and  with  raised  hands  and  eyes  fixed  on 
the  blue  space  above,  already  sprinkled  with  stars, 
prayed  again. 

"  O  mother,  listen  to  me,  for  I  have  something 
fresh  to  say  to  you.  Grandfather  has  not  killed 
himself,  but  has  asked  my  forgiveness  and  has 
promised  to  obey  me.  O  mother,  I  have  forgiven 
him,  and  he  will  now  take  me  to  Riolama,  to  our 
people.  Therefore,  O  mother,  if  he  dies  on  the  way 
to  Riolama  let  nothing  be  done  against  him,  but  re- 
member only  that  I  forgave  him  at  the  last;  and 
when  he  comes  into  that  place  where  you  are,  let  him 


196  GREEN  MANSIONS 

be  well  received,  for  that  is  the  wish  of  Rima,  your 
child." 

As  soon  as  this  second  petition  was  ended  she  was 
up  again  and  engaged  in  an  animated  discussion  with 
him,  urging  him  to  take  her  without  further  delay 
to  Riolama ;  while  he,  now  recovered  from  his  fear, 
urged  that  so  important  an  undertaking  required  a 
great  deal  of  thought  and  preparation ;  that  the 
journey  would  occupy  about  twenty  days,  and  un- 
less he  set  out  well  provided  with  food  he  would 
starve  before  accomplishing  half  the  distance;  and 
his  death  would  leave  her  worse  off  than  before:  he 
concluded  by  affirming  that  he  could  not  start  in  less 
time  than  seven  or  eight  days. 

For  a  while  I  listened  with  keen  interest  to  this 
dispute,  and  at  length  interposed  once  more  on  the 
eld  man's  side.  The  poor  girl  in  her  petition  had 
unwittingly  revealed  to  me  the  power  I  possessed, 
and  it  was  a  pleasing  experience  to  exercise  it. 
Touching  her  shoulder  again,  I  assured  her  that 
seven  or  eight  days  was  only  a  reasonable  time  in 
which  to  prepare  for  so  long  a  journey :  she  instantly 
yielded,  and  after  one  glance  at  my  face  she  moved 
swiftly  away  into  the  darker  shadows,  leaving  me 
alone  with  the  old  man. 

As  we  returned  together  through  the  now  pro- 
foundly dark  wood  I  explained  to  him  how  the  sub- 
ject of  Riolama  had  first  come  up  during  my  con- 
versation with  Rima,  and  he  then  apologised  for  the 


GREEN  MANSIONS  197 

violent  language  he  had  used  to  me.  This  personal 
question  disposed  of,  he  spoke  of  the  pilgrimage  be- 
fore him,  and  informed  me  in  confidence  that  he  in- 
tended preparing  a  quantity  of  smoke-dried  meat 
and  packing  it  in  a  bag,  with  a  layer  of  cassava 
bread,  dried  pumpkin  slips,  and  such  innocent  trifles 
to  conceal  it  from  Rima's  keen  sight  and  delicate 
nostrils.  Finally,  he  made  a  long  rambling  state- 
ment, which,  I  vainly  imagined,  was  intended  to  lead 
up  to  an  account  of  Rima's  origin,  with  something 
about  her  people  at  Riolama;  but  it  led  to  nothing 
except  an  expression  of  opinion  that  the  girl  was 
afflicted  with  a  maggot  in  the  brain,  but  that  as  she 
had  interest  with  the  powers  above,  especially  with 
her  mother,  who  was  now  a  very  important  person 
among  the  celestials,  it  was  good  policy  to  submit  to 
her  wishes.  Turning  to  me,  doubtless  to  wink  (only 
I  missed  the  sign  owing  to  the  darkness),  he  added 
that  it  was  a  fine  thing  to  have  a  friend  at  court. 
With  a  little  gratulatory  chuckle  he  went  on  to  say 
that  for  others  it  was  necessary  to  obey  all  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  Church,  to  contribute  to  its  support, 
hear  mass,  confers  from  time  to  time,  and  receive 
absolution :  consequently  those  who  went  out  into 
the  wilderness,  where  there  were  no  churches  and  no 
priests  to  absolve  them,  did  so  at  the  risk  of  losing 
their  souls.  But  with  him  it  was  different:  he  ex- 
pected in  the  end  to  escape  the  fires  of  purgatory, 
and  go  directly  in  all  his  uncleanness  to  heaven — 


198  GREEN  MANSIONS 

a  thing,  he  remarked,  which  happened  to  very  few; 
and  he,  Nuflo,  was  no  saint,  and  had  first  become  a 
dweller  in  the  desert,  as  a  very  young  man,  in  order 
to  escape  the  penalty  of  his  misdeeds. 

I  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  remarking 
here  that  to  an  unregenerate  man  the  celestial  coun- 
try might  turn  out  a  somewhat  uncongenial  place 
for  a  residence.  He  replied  airily  that  he  had  con- 
sidered the  point  and  had  no  fear  about  the  future ; 
that  he  was  old,  and  from  all  he  had  observed  of  the 
methods  of  government  followed  by  those  who  ruled 
over  earthly  affairs  from  the  sky,  he  had  formed  a 
clear  idea  of  that  place,  and  believed  that  even 
among  so  many  glorified  beings  he  would  be  able  to 
meet  with  those  who  would  prove  companionable 
enough,  and  would  think  no  worse  of  him  on  account 
of  his  little  blemishes. 

How  he  had  first  got  this  idea  into  his  brain  about 
Rima's  ability  to  make  things  smooth  for  him  after 
death  I  cannot  say ;  probably  it  was  the  effect  of  the 
girl's  powerful  personality  and  vivid  faith  acting 
on  an  ignorant  and  extremely  superstitious  mind. 
While  she  was  making  that  petition  to  her  mother 
in  heaven  it  did  not  seem  in  the  least  ridiculous  to 
me :  I  had  felt  no  inclination  to  smile,  even  when 
hearing  all  that  about  the  old  man's  wings  being 
singed  to  prevent  his  escape  by  flying.  Her  rapt 
look ;  the  intense  conviction  that  vibrated  in  her  ring- 
ing, passionate  tones ;  the  brilliant  scorn  with  which 


GREEN  MANSIONS  199 

she,  a  hater  of  bloodshed,  one  so  tender  towards  all 
living  things,  even  the  meanest,  bade  him  kill  himself, 
and  only  hear  first  how  her  vengeance  would  pursue 
his  deceitful  soul  into  other  worlds  ;  the  clearness  with 
which  she  had  related  the  facts  of  the  case,  disclos- 
ing the  inmost  secrets  of  her  heart — all  this  had  had 
a  strange,  convincing  effect  on  me.  Listening  to 
her  I  was  no  longer  the  enlightened,  the  creedless 
man.  She  herself  was  so  near  to  the  supernatural 
that  it  seemed  brought  near  me ;  indefinable  feelings, 
which  had  been  latent  in  me,  stirred  into  life,  and 
following  the  direction  of  her  divine,  lustrous  eyes, 
fixed  on  the  blue  sky  above,  I  seemed  to  see  there  an- 
other being  like  herself,  a  Rima  glorified,  leaning  her 
pale,  spiritual  face  to  catch  the  winged  words  ut- 
tered by  her  child  on  earth.  And  even  now,  while 
hearing  the  old  man's  talk,  showing  as  it  did  a  mind 
darkened  with  such  gross  delusions,  I  was  not  yet 
altogether  free  from  the  strange  effect  of  that 
prayer.  Doubtless  it  was  a  delusion ;  her  mother 
was  not  really  there  above  listening  to  the  girl's 
voice.  Still,  in  some  mysterious  way,  Rima  had  be- 
come to  me,  even  as  to  superstitious  old  Nuflo,  a 
being  apart  and  sacred,  and  this  feeling  seemed  to 
mix  with  my  passion,  to  purify  and  exalt  it  and  make 
it  infinitely  sweet  and  precious. 

After  we  had  been  silent  for  some  time  I  said, 
"  Old  man,  the  result  of  the  grand  discussion  you 
have  had  with  Rima  is  that  you  have  agreed  to  take 


200  GREEN  MANSIONS 

her  to  Riolama,  but  about  my  accompanying  you  not 
one  word  has  been  spoken  by  either  of  you." 

He  stopped  short  to  stare  at  me,  and  although  it 
was  too  dark  to  see  his  face,  I  felt  his  astonishment. 
"  Senor !  "  he  exclaimed,  "  we  cannot  go  without  you. 
Have  you  not  heard  my  granddaughter's  words — 
that  it  is  only  because  of  you  that  she  is  about  to 
undertake  this  crazy  journey?  If  you  are  not  with 
us  in  this  thing,  then,  senor,  here  we  must  remain. 
But  what  will  Rima  say  to  that?  " 

"  Very  well,  I  will  go,  but  only  on  one  condition." 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  he  asked,  with  a  sudden  change 
of  tone,  which  warned  me  that  he  was  becoming  cau- 
tious again. 

"  That  you  tell  me  the  whole  story  of  Rima's 
origin,  and  how  you  came  to  be  now  living  with  her 
in  this  solitary  place,  and  who  these  people  are  she 
wishes  to  visit  at  Riolama." 

"  Ah,  senor,  it  is  a  long  story,  and  sad.  But  you 
shall  hear  it  all.  You  must  hear  it,  senor,  since  you 
are  now  one  of  us ;  and  when  I  am  no  longer  here  to 
protect  her  then  she  will  be  yours.  And  although 
you  will  never  be  able  to  do  more  than  old  Nuflo  for 
her,  perhaps  she  will  be  better  pleased ;  and  you, 
senor,  better  able  to  exist  innocently  by  her  side, 
without  eating  flesh,  since  you  will  always  have  that 
rare  flower  to  delight  you.  But  the  story  would 
take  long  to  tell.  You  shall  hear  it  all  as  we  jour- 
ney  to   Riolama.     What  else  will  there  be  to  talk 


GREEN  MANSIONS  201 

about  when  we  are  walking  that  long  distance,  and 
when  we  sit  at  night  by  the  fire?  " 

"  No,  no,  old  man,  I  am  not  to  be  put  off  in  that 
way.     I  must  hear  it  before  I  start." 

But  he  was  determined  to  reserve  the  narrative 
until  the  journey,  and  after  some  further  argument 
I  yielded  the  point. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THAT  evening  by  the  fire  old  Nuflo,  lately  so 
miserable,  now  happy  in  his  delusions,  was 
more  than  usually  gay  and  loquacious.  He  was  like 
a  child,  who  by  timely  submission  has  escaped  a 
threatened  severe  punishment.  But  his  lightness  of 
heart  was  exceeded  by  mine;  and,  with  the  exception 
of  one  other  yet  to  come,  that  evening  now  shines  in 
memory  as  the  happiest  my  life  has  known.  For 
Rima's  sweet  secret  was  known  to  me ;  and  her  very 
ignorance  of  the  meaning  of  the  feeling  she  expe- 
rienced, which  caused  her  to  fly  from  me  as  from  an 
enemy,  only  served  to  make  the  thought  of  it  more 
purely  delightful. 

On  this  occasion  she  did  not  steal  away  like  a 
timid  mouse  to  her  own  apartment,  as  her  custom 
was,  but  remained  to  give  that  one  evening  a  special 
grace,  seated  well  away  from  the  fire  in  that  same 
shadowy  corner  where  I  had  first  seen  her  indoors, 
when  I  had  marvelled  at  her  altered  appearance. 

From  that  corner  she  could  see  my  face,  with  the 

firelight  full  upon  it,  she  herself  in  shadow,  her  eyes 

veiled  by  their  drooping  lashes.      Sitting  there  the 

202 


GREEN  MANSIONS  203 

vivid  consciousness  of  my  happiness  was  like 
draughts  of  strong,  delicious  wine,  and  its  effect  was 
like  wine,  imparting  such  freedom  to  fancy,  such 
fluency,  that  again  and  again  old  Nuflo  applauded, 
crying  out  that  I  was  a  poet,  and  begging  me  to  put 
it  all  into  rhyme.  I  could  not  do  that  to  please  him, 
never  having  acquired  the  art  of  improvisation — 
that  idle  trick  of  making  words  jingle  which  men  of 
Nuflo's  class  in  my  country  so  greatly  admire:  yet 
it  seemed  to  me  on  that  evening  that  my  feelings 
could  be  adequately  expressed  only  in  that  sub- 
limated language  used  by  the  finest  minds  in  their 
inspired  moments ;  and,  accordingly,  I  fell  to  recit- 
ing. But  not  from  any  modern,  nor  from  the  poets 
of  the  last  century,  nor  even  from  the  greater  seven- 
teenth century.  I  kept  to  the  more  ancient  ro- 
mances and  ballads,  the  sweet  old  verse  that,  whether 
glad  or  sorrowful,  seems  always  natural  and  spon- 
taneous as  the  song  of  a  bird,  and  so  simple  that 
even  a  child  can  understand  it. 

It  was  late  that  night  before  all  the  romances  I 
remembered  or  cared  to  recite  were  exhausted,  and 
not  until  then  did  Rima  come  out  of  her  shaded 
corner  and  steal  silently  away  to  her  sleeping-place. 

Although  I  had  resolved  to  go  with  them,  and  had 
set  Nuflo's  mind  at  rest  on  the  point,  I  was  bent  on 
getting  the  request  from  Rima's  own  lips;  and  the 
next  morning  the  opportunity  of  seeing  her  alone 


204  GREEN  MANSIONS 

presented  itself,  after  old  Nuflo  had  sneaked  off  with 
his  dogs.  From  the  moment  of  his  departure  I  kept 
a  close  watch  on  the  house,  as  one  watches  a  bush 
in  which  a  bird  he  wishes  to  see  has  concealed  itself, 
and  out  of  which  it  may  dart  at  any  moment  and 
escape  unseen. 

At  length  she  came  forth,  and  seeing  me  in  the 
way,  would  have  slipped  back  into  hiding ;  for,  in 
spite  of  her  boldness  on  the  previous  day,  she  now 
seemed  shyer  than  ever  when  I  spoke  to  her. 

"  Rima,"  I  said,  "  do  you  remember  where  we  first 
talked  together  under  a  tree  one  morning,  when  you 
spoke  of  your  mother,  telling  me  that  she  was 
dead?" 

"  Yes." 

"  I  am  going  now  to  that  spot  to  wait  for  you. 
I  must  speak  to  you  again  in  that  place  about  this 
journey  to  Riolama."  As  she  kept  silent,  I  added, 
"  Will  you  promise  to  come  to  me  there?  " 

She  shook  her  head,  turning  half  away. 

"  Have  you  forgotten  our  compact,  Rima?  " 

"  No,"  she  returned ;  and  then,  suddenly  coming 
near,  spoke  in  a  low  tone,  "  I  will  go  there  to  please 
you,  and  you  must  also  do  as  I  tell  you." 

"  What  do  you  wish,  Rima?  " 

She  came  nearer  still.  "  Listen !  You  must  not 
look  into  my  eyes,  you  must  not  touch  me  with  your 
hands." 


GREEN  MANSIONS  205 

"  Sweet  Rima,  I  must  hold  your  hand  when  I  speak 
with  you." 

"  No,  no,  no,"  she  murmured,  shrinking  from  me ; 
and  finding  that  it  must  be  as  she  wished,  I  reluct- 
antly agreed. 

Before  I  had  waited  long  she  appeared  at  the 
trysting-place,  and  stood  before  me,  as  on  a  former 
occasion,  on  that  same  spot  of  clean  yellow  sand, 
clasping  and  unclasping  her  fingers,  troubled  in 
mind  even  then.  Only  now  her  trouble  was  different 
and  greater,  making  her  shyer  and  more  reticent. 

"  Rima,  your  grandfather  is  going  to  take  you  to 
Riolama.     Do  you  wish  me  to  go  with  you?  " 

"  Oh,  do  you  not  know  that?  "  she  returned,  with 
a  swift  glance  at  my  face. 

"  How  should  I  know  ?  " 

Her  eyes  wandered  away  restlessly.  "  On  Ytaioa 
you  told  me  a  hundred  things  which  I  did  not  know," 
she  replied  in  a  vague  way,  wishing,  perhaps,  to 
imply  that  with  so  great  a  knowledge  of  geography 
it  was  strange  I  did  not  know  everything,  even  her 
most  secret  thoughts. 

"  Tell  me,  why  must  you  go  to  Riolama  ?  " 

"  You  have  heard.     To  speak  to  my  people.  " 

"What  will  you  say  to  them?     Tell  me." 

"  What  you  do  not  understand.     How  tell  you." 

"  I  understand  you  when  you  speak  in  Spanish." 

"  Oh,  that  is  not  speaking." 


206  GREEN  MANSIONS 

"  Last  night  you  spoke  to  your  mother  in  Spanish. 
Did  you  not  tell  her  everything?  " 

"  Oh  no — not  then.  When  I  tell  her  everything 
I  speak  in  another  way,  in  a  low  voice — not  on  my 
knees  and  praying.  At  night,  and  in  the  woods,  and 
when  I  am  alone  I  tell  her.  But  perhaps  she  does 
not  hear  me ;  she  is  not  here,  but  up  there — so  far ! 
She  never  answers,  but  when  I  speak  to  my  people 
they  will  answer  me." 

Then  she  turned  away  as  if  there  was  nothing 
more  to  be  said. 

"  Is  this  all  I  am  to  hear  from  you,  Rima — these 
few  words  ?  "  I  exclaimed.  "  So  much  did  you  say 
to  your  grandfather,  so  much  to  your  dead  mother, 
but  to  me  you  say  so  little !  " 

She  turned  again,  and  with  eyes  cast  down  re- 
plied— 

"  He  deceived  me — I  had  to  tell  him  that,  and 
then  to  pray  to  mother.  But  to  you  that  do  not 
understand,  what  can  I  say?  Only  that  you  are  not 
like  him  and  all  those  that  I  knew  at  Voa.  It  is  so 
different — and  the  same.  You  are  you,  and  I  am 
I;  why  is  it — do  you  know?  " 

"  No ;  yes — I  know,  but  cannot  tell  you.  And  if 
you  find  your  people  what  will  you  do — leave  me  to 
go  to  them?  Must  I  go  all  the  way  to  Riolama  only 
to  lose  you?  " 

"  Where  I  am  there  you  must  be." 

"Why?" 


GREEN  MANSIONS  207 

"  Do  I  not  see  it  there  ?  "  she  returned,  with  a 
quick  gesture  to  indicate  that  it  appeared  in  my 
face. 

"  Your  sight  is  keen,  Rima — keen  as  a  bird's. 
Mine  is  not  so  keen.  Let  me  look  once  more  into 
those  beautiful  wild  eyes,  then  perhaps  I  shall  see 
in  them  as  much  as  you  see  in  mine." 

"  Oh  no,  no,  not  that !  "  she  murmured  in  distress, 
drawing  away  from  me;  then  with  a  sudden  flash  of 
brilliant  colour  cried — 

"  Have  you  forgotten  the  compact — the  promise 
you  made  me  ?  " 

Her  words  made  me  ashamed,  and  I  could  not 
reply.  But  the  shame  was  as  nothing  in  strength 
compared  to  the  impulse  I  felt  to  clasp  her  beautiful 
body  in  my  arms  and  cover  her  face  with  kisses. 
Sick  with  desire,  I  turned  away,  and  sitting  on  a 
root  of  the  tree,  covered  my  face  with  my  hands. 

She  came  nearer:  I  could  see  her  shadow  through 
my  fingers ;  then  her  face  and  wistful,  compassionate 
eyes. 

"  Forgive  me,  dear  Rima,"  I  said,  dropping  my 
hands  again.  "  I  have  tried  so  hard  to  please  you 
in  everything!  Touch  my  face  with  your  hand — 
only  that,  and  I  will  go  to  Riolama  with  you,  and 
obey  you  in  all  things." 

For  a  while  she  hesitated,  then  stepped  quickly 
aside  so  that  I  could  not  see  her;  but  I  knew  that 
she  had  not  left  me,  that  she  was  standing  just  be- 


208  GREEN  MANSIONS 

hind  me.  And  after  waiting  a  moment  longer  I  felt 
her  fingers  touching  my  skin,  softly,  trembling  over 
my  cheek  as  if  a  soft-winged  moth  had  fluttered 
against  it ;  then  the  slight  aerial  touch  was  gone,  and 
she,  too,  moth-like,  had  vanished  from  my  side. 

Left  alone  in  the  wood  I  was  not  happy.  That 
fluttering,  flattering  touch  of  her  finger-tips  had 
been  to  me  like  spoken  language,  and  more  eloquent 
than  language,  yet  the  sweet  assurance  it  conveyed 
had  not  given  perfect  satisfaction ;  and  when  I  asked 
myself  why  the  gladness  of  the  previous  evening  had 
forsaken  me — why  I  was  infected  with  this  new  sad- 
ness when  everything  promised  well  for  me,  I  found 
that  it  was  because  my  passion  had  greatly  increased 
during  the  last  few  hours ;  even  during  sleep  it  had 
been  growing,  and  could  no  longer  be  fed  by  merely 
dwelling  in  thought  on  the  charms,  moral  and  physi- 
cal, of  its  object,  and  by  dreams  of  future  fruition. 

I  concluded  that  it  would  be  best  for  Rima's  sake 
as  well  as  my  own  to  spend  a  few  of  the  days  before 
setting  out  on  our  journey,  with  my  Indian  friends, 
who  would  be  troubled  at  my  long  absence ;  and, 
accordingly,  next  morning  I  bade  good-bye  to  the 
old  man,  promising  to  return  in  three  or  four  days, 
and  then  started  without  seeing  Rima,  who  had  quit- 
ted the  house  before  her  usual  time.  After  getting 
free  of  the  woods,  on  casting  back  my  eyes  I  caught 
sight   of   the   girl   standing   under   an  isolated   tree 


GREEN  MANSIONS  209 

watching  me  with  that  vague,  misty,  greenish  ap- 
pearance she  so  frequently  had  when  seen  in  the  light 
shade  at  a  short  distance. 

"  Rima !  "  I  cried,  hurrying  back  to  speak  to  her, 
but  when  I  reached  the  spot  she  had  vanished;  and 
after  waiting  some  time,  seeing  and  hearing  nothing 
to  indicate  that  she  was  near  me,  I  resumed  my  walk, 
half  thinking  that  my  imagination  had  deceived  me. 

I  found  my  Indian  friends  home  again,  and  was 
not  surprised  to  observe  a  distinct  change  in  their 
manner  towards  me.  I  had  expected  as  much;  and 
considering  that  they  must  have  known  very  well 
where  and  in  whose  company  I  had  been  spending  my 
time,  it  was  not  strange.  Coming  across  the  savan- 
nah that  morning  I  had  first  begun  to  think  seriously 
of  the  risk  I  was  running.  But  this  thought  only 
served  to  prepare  me  for  a  new  condition  of  things ; 
for  now  to  go  back  and  appear  before  Rima,  and 
thus  prove  myself  to  be  a  person  not  only  capable  of 
forgetting  a  promise  occasionally,  but  also  of  a  weak, 
vacillating  mind,  was  not  to  be  thought  of  for  a 
moment. 

I  was  received — not  welcomed — quietly  enough; 
not  a  question,  not  a  word,  concerning  my  long  ab- 
sence fell  from  anyone;  it  was  as  if  a  stranger  had 
appeared  among  them,  one  about  whom  they  knew 
nothing,  and  consequently  regarded  with  suspicion, 
if  not  actual  hostility.  I  affected  not  to  notice  the 
change,  and  dipped  my  hand  uninvited  in  the  pot  to 


210  GREEN  MANSIONS 

satisfy  my  hunger,  and  smoked  and  dozed  away  the 
sultry  hours  in  my  hammock.  Then  I  got  my  guitar 
and  spent  the  rest  of  the  day  over  it,  tuning  it, 
touching  the  strings  so  softly  with  my  finger-tips 
that  to  a  person  four  yards  off  the  sound  must  have 
seemed  like  the  murmur  or  buzz  of  an  insect's  wings ; 
and  to  this  scarcely  audible  accompaniment  I  mur- 
mured in  an  equally  low  tone  a  new  song. 

In  the  evening,  when  all  were  gathered  under  the 
roof  and  I  had  eaten  again,  I  took  up  the  instrument 
once  more,  furtively  watched  by  all  those  half-closed 
animal  eyes,  and  swept  the  strings  loudly,  and  sang 
aloud.  I  sang  an  old  simple  Spanish  melody,  to 
which  I  had  put  words  in  their  own  language — a 
language  with  no  words  not  in  everyday  use,  in  which 
it  is  so  difficult  to  express  feelings  out  of  and  above 
the  common.  What  I  had  been  constructing  and 
practising  all  the  afternoon  sotto  voce  was  a  kind  of 
ballad,  an  extremely  simple  tale  of  a  poor  Indian 
living  alone  with  his  young  family  in  a  season  of 
dearth :  how  day  after  day  he  ranged  the  voiceless 
woods  to  return  each  evening  with  nothing  but  a 
few  withered  sour  berries  in  his  hand,  to  find  his  lean, 
large-eyed  wife  still  nursing  the  fire  that  cooked 
nothing,  and  his  children  crying  for  food,  showing 
their  bones  more  plainly  through  their  skins  every 
day ;  and  how,  without  anything  miraculous,  any- 
thing wonderful,  happening,  that  barrenness  passed 
from  earth,  and  the  garden  once  more  yielded  them 


GREEN  MANSIONS  211 

pumpkin  and  maize,  and  manioc,  the  wild  fruits  ri- 
pened, and  the  birds  returned,  filling  the  forest  with 
their  cries ;  and  so  their  long  hunger  was  satisfied, 
and  the  children  grew  sleek,  and  played  and  laughed 
in  the  sunshine ;  and  the  wife,  no  longer  brooding  over 
the  empty  pot,  wove  a  hammock  of  silk  grass,  deco- 
rated with  blue-and-scarlet  feathers  of  the  macaw ; 
and  in  that  new  hammock  the  Indian  rested  long  from 
his  labours,  smoking  endless  cigars. 

When  I  at  last  concluded  with  a  loud  note  of  joy, 
a  long,  involuntary  suspiration  in  the  darkening 
room  told  me  that  I  had  been  listened  to  with  pro- 
found interest;  and,  although  no  word  was  spoken, 
though  I  was  still  a  stranger  and  under  a  cloud,  it 
was  plain  that  the  experiment  had  succeeded,  and 
that  for  the  present  the  danger  was  averted. 

I  went  to  my  hammock  and  slept,  but  without  un- 
dressing. Next  morning  I  missed  my  revolver  and 
found  that  the  holster  containing  it  had  been  de- 
tached from  the  belt.  My  knife  had  not  been  taken, 
possibly  because  it  was  under  me  in  the  hammock 
while  I  slept.  In  answer  to  my  inquiries  I  was  in- 
formed that  Runi  had  borrowed  my  weapon  to  take 
it  with  him  to  the  forest,  where  he  had  gone  to  hunt, 
and  that  he  would  return  it  to  me  in  the  evening. 
I  affected  to  take  it  in  good  part,  although  feeling 
secretly  ill  at  ease.  Later  in  the  day  I  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  Runi  had  had  it  in  his  mind  to  mur- 
der me,  that  I  had  softened  him  by  singing  that  In- 


212  GREEN  MANSIONS 

dian  story,  and  that  by  taking  possession  of  the 
revolver  he  showed  that  he  now  only  meant  to  keep 
me  a  prisoner.  Subsequent  events  confirmed  me  in 
this  suspicion.  On  his  return  he  explained  that  he 
had  gone  out  to  seek  for  game  in  the  woods ;  and, 
going  without  a  companion,  he  had  taken  my  re- 
volver to  preserve  him  from  dangers — meaning  those 
of  a  supernatural  kind ;  and  that  he  had  had  the 
misfortune  to  drop  it  among  the  bushes  while  in 
pursuit  of  some  animal.  I  answered  hotly  that  he 
had  not  treated  me  like  a  friend ;  that  if  he  had  asked 
me  for  the  weapon  it  would  have  been  lent  to  him ; 
that  as  he  had  taken  it  without  permission  he  must 
pay  me  for  it.  After  some  pondering,  he  said  that 
when  he  took  it  I  was  sleeping  soundly ;  also,  that  it 
would  not  be  lost;  he  would  take  me  to  the  place 
where  he  had  dropped  it,  when  we  could  search  to- 
gether for  it. 

He  was  in  appearance  more  friendly  towards  me 
now,  even  asking  me  to  repeat  my  last  evening's 
song,  and  so  we  had  that  performance  all  over  again 
to  everybody's  satisfaction.  But  when  morning 
came  he  was  not  inclined  to  go  to  the  woods:  there 
was  food  enough  in  the  house,  and  the  pistol  would 
not  be  hurt  by  lying  where  it  had  fallen  a  day  longer. 
Next  day  the  same  excuse;  still  I  disguised  my  im- 
patience and  suspicion  of  him  and  waited,  singing 
the  ballad  for  the  third  time  that  evening.  Then 
I  was  conducted  to  a  wood  about  a  league  and  a  half 


GREEN  MANSIONS  213 

away  and  we  hunted  for  the  lost  pistol  among  the 
bushes,  I  with  little  hope  of  finding  it,  while  he  at- 
tended to  the  bird  voices  and  frequently  asked  me 
to  stand  or  lie  still  when  a  chance  of  something  of- 
fered. 

The  result  of  that  wasted  day  was  a  determination 
on  my  part  to  escape  from  Runi  as  soon  as  possible, 
although  at  the  risk  of  making  a  deadly  enemy  of 
him  and  of  being  compelled  to  go  on  that  long  jour- 
ney to  Riolama  with  no  better  weapon  than  a  hunt- 
ing-knife. I  had  noticed,  while  appearing  not  to  do 
so,  that  outside  of  the  house  I  was  followed  or 
watched  by  one  or  other  of  the  Indians,  so  that  great 
circumspection  was  needed.  On  the  following  day  I 
attacked  my  host  once  more  about  the  revolver,  tell- 
ing him  with  well-acted  indignation  that  if  not  found 
it  must  be  paid  for.  I  went  so  far  as  to  give  a  list 
of  the  articles  I  should  require,  including  a  bow  and 
arrows,  zabatana,  two  spears,  and  other  things  which 
I  need  not  specify,  to  set  me  up  for  life  as  a  wild 
man  in  the  woods  of  Guayana.  I  was  going  to  add 
a  wife,  but  as  I  had  already  been  offered  one  it  did 
not  appear  to  be  necessary.  He  seemed  a  little 
taken  aback  at  the  value  I  set  upon  my  weapon,  and 
promised  to  go  and  look  for  it  again.  Then  I 
begged  that  Kua-ko,  in  whose  sharpness  of  sight  I 
had  great  faith,  might  accompany  us.  He  con- 
sented, and  named  the  next  day  but  one  for  the  ex- 
pedition.    Very    well,    thought    I,    to-morrow    their 


214  GREEN  MANSIONS 

suspicion  will  be  less,  and  my  opportunity  will  come ; 

then  taking  up  my  rude  instrument,  I  gave  them  an 

old  Spanish  song — 

i, 

Desde  aquel  doloroso  momento: 

but  this  kind  of  music  had  lost  its  charm  for  them, 
and  I  was  asked  to  give  them  the  ballad  they  under- 
stood so  well,  in  which  their  interest  seemed  to  in- 
crease with  every  repetition.  In  spite  of  anxiety 
it  amused  me  to  see  old  Cla-cla  regarding  me  fixedly 
with  owlish  eyes  and  lips  moving.  My  tale  had  no 
wonderful  things  in  it,  like  hers  of  the  olden  time, 
which  she  told  only  to  send  her  hearers  to  sleep. 
Perhaps  she  had  discovered  by  now  that  it  was  the 
strange  honey  of  melody  which  made  the  coarse, 
common  cassava-bread  of  everyday  life  in  my  story 
so  pleasant  to  the  palate.  I  was  quite  prepared  to 
receive  a  proposal  to  give  her  music  and  singing  les- 
sons, and  to  bequeath  a  guitar  to  her  in  my  last  will 
and  testament.  For,  in  spite  of  her  hoary  hair  and 
million  wrinkles,  she,  more  than  any  other  savage 
I  had  met  with,  seemed  to  have  taken  a  draught  from 
Ponce  de  Leon's  undiscovered  fountain  of  eternal 
youth.     Poor  old  witch ! 

The  following  day  was  the  sixth  of  my  absence 
from  Rima,  and  one  of  intense  anxiety  to  me,  a  feel- 
ing which  I  endeavored  to  hide  by  playing  with  the 
children,  fighting  our  old  comic  stick  fights,  and  by 
strumming  noisily  on  the  guitar.     In  the  afternoon, 


GREEN  MANSIONS  215 

when  it  was  hottest,  and  all  the  men  who  happened  to 
be  indoors  were  lying  in  their  hammocks,  I  asked 
Kua-ko  to  go  with  me  to  the  stream  to  bathe.  He 
refused — I  had  counted  on  that — and  earnestly  ad- 
vised me  not  to  bathe  in  the  pool  I  was  accustomed 
to,  as  some  little  caribe  fishes  had  made  their  ap- 
pearance there  and  would  be  sure  to  attack  me.  I 
laughed  at  his  idle  tale,  and  taking  up  my  cloak 
swung  out  of  the  door,  whistling  a  lively  air.  He 
knew  that  I  always  threw  my  cloak  over  my  head 
and  shoulders  as  a  protection  from  the  sun  and 
stinging  flies  when  coming  out  of  the  water,  and  so 
his  suspicion  was  not  aroused,  and  I  was  not  fol- 
lowed. The  pool  was  about  ten  minutes'  walk  from 
the  house ;  I  arrived  at  it  with  palpitating  heart,  and 
going  round  to  its  end,  where  the  stream  was  shallow, 
sat  down  to  rest  for  a  few  moments  and  take  a  few 
sips  of  cool  water  dipped  up  in  my  palm.  Presently 
I  rose,  crossed  the  stream,  and  began  running,  keep- 
ing among  the  low  trees  near  the  bank  until  a  dry 
gully,  which  extended  for  some  distance  across  the 
savannah,  was  reached.  By  following  its  course  the 
distance  to  be  covered  would  be  considerably  in- 
creased, but  the  shorter  way  would  have  exposed  me 
to  sight  and  made  it  more  dangerous.  I  had  put 
forth  too  much  speed  at  first,  and  in  a  short  time  my 
exertions,  and  the  hot  sun,  together  with  my  intense 
excitement,  overcame  me.  I  dared  not  hope  that  my 
flight  had  not  been  observed ;  I  imagined  that  the 


216  GREEN  MANSIONS 

Indians,  unencumbered  by  any  heavy  weight,  were 
already  close  behind  me,  and  ready  to  launch  their 
deadly  spears  at  my  back.  With  a  sob  of  rage  and 
despair  I  fell  prostrate  on  my  face  in  the  dry  bed  of 
the  stream,  and  for  two  or  three  minutes  remained 
thus  exhausted  and  unmanned,  my  heart  throbbing 
so  violently  that  my  whole  frame  was  shaken.  If 
my  enemies  had  come  on  me  then  disposed  to  kill 
me,  I  could  not  have  lifted  a  hand  in  defence  of  my 
life.  But  minutes  passed,  and  they  came  not.  I 
rose  and  went  on,  at  a  fast  walk  now,  and  when  the 
sheltering  stream-bed  ended,  I  stooped  among  the 
sere  dwarfed  shrubs  scattered  about  here  and  there 
on  its  southern  side;  and  now  creeping  and  now 
running,  with  an  occasional  pause  to  rest  and  look 
back,  I  at  last  reached  the  dividing  ridge  at  its 
southern  extremity.  The  rest  of  the  way  was  over 
comparatively  easy  ground,  inclining  downwards ; 
and  with  that  glad  green  forest  now  full  in  sight, 
and  hope  growing  stronger  every  minute  in  my 
breast,  my  knees  ceased  to  tremble,  and  I  ran  on 
again,  scarcely  pausing  until  I  had  touched  and  lost 
myself  in  the  welcome  shadows. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

AH  that  return  to  the  forest  where  Rima  dwelt, 
after  so  anxious  a  day,  when  the  declining  sun 
shone  hotly  still,  and  the  green  woodland  shadows 
were  so  grateful!  The  coolness,  the  sense  of  secur- 
ity, allayed  the  fever  and  excitement  I  had  suffered 
on  the  open  savannah;  I  walked  leisurely,  pausing 
often  to  listen  to  some  bird  voice  or  to  admire  some 
rare  insect  or  parasitic  flower  shining  star-like  in 
the  shade.  There  was  a  strangely  delightful  sensa- 
tion in  me.  I  likened  myself  to  a  child  that,  startled 
at  something  it  had  seen  while  out  playing  in  the 
sun,  flies  to  its  mother  to  feel  her  caressing  hand  on 
its  cheek  and  forget  its  tremors.  And  describing 
what  I  felt  in  that  way,  I  was  a  little  ashamed  and 
laughed  at  myself;  nevertheless  the  feeling  was  very 
sweet.  At  that  moment  Mother  and  Nature  seemed 
one  and  the  same  thing.  As  I  kept  to  the  more  open 
part  of  the  wood,  on  its  southernmost  border,  the 
red  flame  of  the  sinking  sun  was  seen  at  intervals 
through  the  deep  humid  green  of  the  higher  foliage. 
How  every  object  it  touched  took  from  it  a  new 
wonderful  glory!     At  one  spot,  high  up  where  the 

foliage  was  scanty,  and  slender  bush  ropes  and  moss 

217 


218  GREEN  MANSIONS 

depended  like  broken  cordage  from  a  dead  limb — 
just  there,  bathing  itself  in  that  glory-giving  light, 
I.  noticed  a  fluttering  bird,  and  stood  still  to  watch 
its  antics.  Now  it  would  cling,  head  downwards,  to 
the  slender  twigs,  wings  and  tail  open ;  then,  righting 
itself,  it  would  flit  from  waving  line  to  line,  dropping 
lower  and  lower;  and  anon  soar  upwards  a  distance 
of  twenty  feet  and  alight  to  recommence  the  flitting 
and  swaying  and  dropping  towards  the  earth.  It 
was  one  of  those  birds  that  have  a  polished  plumage, 
and  as  it  moved  this  way  and  that,  flirting  its  feath- 
ers, they  caught  the  beams  and  shone  at  moments 
like  glass  or  burnished  metal.  Suddenly  another 
bird  of  the  same  kind  dropped  down  to  it  as  if  from 
the  sky,  straight  and  swift  as  a  falling  stone ;  and 
the  first  bird  sprang  up  to  meet  the  comer,  and  after 
rapidly  wheeling  round  each  other  for  a  moment  they 
fled  away  in  company,  screaming  shrilly  through  the 
wood,  and  were  instantly  lost  to  sight,  while  their 
jubilant  cries  came  back  fainter  and  fainter  at  each 
repetition. 

I  envied  them  not  their  wings :  at  that  moment 
earth  did  not  seem  fixed  and  solid  beneath  me,  nor 
I  bound  by  gravity  to  it.  The  faint,  floating  clouds, 
the  blue  infinite  heaven  itself,  seemed  not  more  ethe- 
real and  free  than  I,  or  the  ground  I  walked  on.  The 
low,  stony  hills  on  my  right  hand,  of  which  I  caught 
occasional  glimpses  through  the  trees,  looking  now 
blue  and  delicate  in  the  level  rays,  were  no  more  than 


GREEN  MANSIONS  219 

the  billowy  projections  on  the  moving  cloud  of  earth: 
the  trees  of  unnumbered  kinds — great  mora, 
cecropia,  and  greenheart,  bush  and  fern  and  sus- 
pended lianas,  and  tall  palms  balancing  their  feath- 
ery foliage  on  slender  stems — all  was  but  a  fantastic 
mist  embroidery  covering  the  surface  of  that  floating 
cloud  on  which  my  feet  were  set,  and  which  floated 
with  me  near  the  sun. 

The  red  evening  flame  had  vanished  from  the  sum- 
mits of  the  trees,  the  sun  was  setting,  the  woods  in 
shadow,  when  I  got  to  the  end  of  my  walk.  I  did  not 
approach  the  house  on  the  side  of  the  door,  yet  by 
some  means  those  within  became  aware  of  my  pres- 
ence, for  out  they  came  in  a  great  hurry,  Rima  lead- 
ing the  way,  Nuflo  behind  her,  waving  her  arms  and 
shouting.  But  as  I  drew  near  the  girl  dropped  be- 
hind and  stood  motionless  regarding  me,  her  face 
pallid  and  showing  strong  excitement.  I  could 
scarcely  remove  my  eyes  from  her  eloquent  counte- 
nance: I  seemed  to  read  in  it  relief  and  gladness 
mingled  with  surprise  and  something  like  vexation. 
She  was  piqued  perhaps  that  I  had  taken  her  by 
surprise,  that  after  much  watching  for  me  in  the 
wood  I  had  come  through  it  undetected  when  she  was 
indoors. 

"  Happy  the  eyes  that  see  you ! "  shouted  the  old 
man,  laughing  boisterously. 

"  Happy  are  mine  that  look  on  Rima  again,"  I 
answered.     "  I  have  been  long  absent." 


220  GREEN  MANSIONS 

"  Long — you  may  say  so,"  returned  Nuflo.  "  We 
had  given  you  up.  We  said  that,  alarmed  at  the 
thought  of  the  journey  to  Riolama,  you  had  aban- 
doned us." 

"  We  said ! "  exclaimed  Rima,  her  pallid  face  sud- 
denly flushing.     "  I  spoke  differently." 

"  Yes,  I  know — I  know !  "  he  said  airily,  waving 
his  hand.  "  You  said  that  he  was  in  danger,  that  he 
was  kept  against  his  will  from  coming.  He  is  pres- 
ent now — let  him  speak." 

"  She  was  right,"  I  said.  "  Ah,  Nuflo,  old  man, 
you  have  lived  long,  and  got  much  experience,  but 
not  insight — not  that  inner  vision  that  sees  further 
than  the  eyes." 

"  No,  not  that — I  know  what  you  mean,"  he  an- 
swered. Then,  tossing  his  hand  towards  the  sky,  he 
added,  "  The  knowledge  you  speak  of  comes  from 
there." 

The  girl  had  been  listening  with  keen  interest, 
glancing  from  one  to  the  other.  "  What ! "  she 
spoke  suddenly,  as  if  unable  to  keep  silence,  "  do  you 
think,  grandfather,  that  she  tells  me — when  there  is 
danger — when  the  rain  will  cease — when  the  wind 
will  blow — everything?  Do  I  not  ask  and  listen,  ly- 
ing awake  at  night?  She  is  always  silent,  like  the 
stars." 

Then,  pointing  to  me  with  her  finger,  she  finished — 

"  He  knows  so  many  things !  Who  tells  them  to 
hvm?" 


GREEN  MANSIONS  221 

"  But  distinguish,  Rima.  You  do  not  distinguish 
the  great  from  the  little,"  he  answered  loftily.  "  We 
know  a  thousand  things,  but  they  are  things  that 
any  man  with  a  forehead  can  learn.  The  knowledge 
that  comes  from  the  blue  is  not  like  that — it  is  more 
important  and  miraculous.  Is  it  not  so,  senor?  " 
he  ended,  appealing  to  me. 

"  Is  it,  then,  left  for  me  to  decide?  "  said  I,  ad- 
dressing the  girl. 

But  though  her  face  was  towards  me  she  refused 
to  meet  my  look  and  was  silent.  Silent,  but  not  sat- 
isfied: she  doubted  still,  and  had  perhaps  caught 
something  in  my  tone  that  strengthened  her  doubt. 

Old  Nuflo  understood  the  expression.  "  Look  at 
me,  Rima,"  he  said,  drawing  himself  up.  "  I  am 
old,  and  he  is  young — do  I  not  know  best?  I  have 
spoken  and  have  decided  it." 

Still  that  unconvinced  expression,  and  her  face 
turned  expectant  to  me. 

"  Am  I  to  decide  ?  "  I  repeated. 

"  Who,  then?  "  she  said  at  last,  hex  voice  scarcely 
more  than  a  murmur;  yet  there  was  reproach  in  the 
tone,  as  if  she  had  made  a  long  speech  and  I  had 
tyrannously  driven  her  to  it. 

"  Thus,  then,  I  decide,"  said  I.  (i  To  each  of  us, 
as  to  every  kind  of  animal,  even  to  small  birds  and 
insects,  and  to  every  kind  of  plant,  there  is  given 
something  peculiar — a  fragrance,  a  melody,  a  spe- 
cial instinct,  an  art,  a  knowledge,  which  no  other  has. 


%%%  GREEN  MANSIONS 

And  to  Kima  has  been  given  this  quickness  of  mind 
and  power  to  divine  distant  things ;  it  is  hers,  just 
as  swiftness  and  grace  and  changeful,  brilliant  col- 
our are  the  humming-bird's ;  therefore  she  need  not 
that  anyone  dwelling  in  the  blue  should  instruct  her." 
The  old  man  frowned  and  shook  his  head ;  while 
she,  after  one  swift,  shy  glance  at  my  face,  and  with 
something  like  a  smile  flitting  over  her  delicate  lips, 
turned  and  reentered  the  house. 

I  felt  convinced  from  that  parting  look  that  she 
had  understood  me,  that  my  words  had  in  some  sort 
given  her  relief;  for,  strong  as  was  her  faith  in  the 
supernatural,  she  appeared  as  ready  to  escape  from 
it,  when  a  way  of  escape  offered,  as  from  the  limp 
cotton  gown  and  constrained  manner  worn  in  the 
house.  The  religion  and  cotton  dress  were  evidently 
remains  of  her  early  training  at  the  settlement  of 
Voa. 

Old  Nuflo,  strange  to  say,  had  proved  better  than 
his  word.  Instead  of  inventing  new  causes  for  de- 
lay, as  I  had  imagined  would  be  the  case,  he  now  in- 
formed me  that  his  preparations  for  the  journey 
were  all  but  complete,  that  he  had  only  waited  for 
my  return  to  set  out. 

Rima  soon  left  us  in  her  customary  way,  and  then, 
talking  by  the  fire,  I  gave  an  account  of  my  deten- 
tion by  the  Indians  and  of  the  loss  of  my  revolver, 
which  I  thought  very  serious. 

"  You  seem  to  think  little  of  it,"  I  said,  observing 


GREEN  MANSIONS  223 

that  he  took  it  very  coolly.  "  Yet  I  know  not  how 
I  shall  defend  myself  in  case  of  an  attack." 

"  I  have  no  fear  of  an  attack,"  he  answered.  "  It 
seems  to  me  the  same  thing  whether  you  have  a  re- 
volver or  many  revolvers  and  carbines  and  swords,  or 
no  revolver — no  weapon  at  all.  And  for  a  very  sim- 
ple reason.  While  Rima  is  with  us,  so  long  as  we 
are  on  her  business,  we  are  protected  from  above. 
The  angels,  sefior,  will  watch  over  us  by  day  and 
night.  What  need  of  weapons,  then,  except  to  pro- 
cure food?  " 

"  Why  should  not  the  angels  provide  us  with  food 
also  ?  "  said  I. 

"  No,  no,  that  is  a  different  thing,"  he  returned. 
"  That  is  a  small  and  low  thing,  a  necessity  common 
to  all  creatures,  which  all  know  how  to  meet.  You 
would  not  expect  an  angel  to  drive  away  a  cloud  of 
mosquitoes,  or  to  remove  a  bush-tick  from  your  per- 
son. No,  sir,  you  may  talk  of  natural  gifts,  and 
try  to  make  Rima  believe  that  she  is  what  she  is,  and 
knows  what  she  knows,  because,  like  a  humming- 
bird or  some  plants  with  a  peculiar  fragrance,  she 
has  been  made  so.  It  is  wrong,  sefior,  and  pardon 
me  for  saying  it,  it  ill  becomes  you  to  put  such  fables 
into  her  head." 

I  answered,  with  a  smile,  "  She  herself  seems  to 
doubt  what  you  believe." 

"  But,  sefior,  what  can  you  expect  from  an  igno- 
rant girl  like  Rima  ?     She  knows  nothing,  or  very  lit- 


224  GREEN  MANSIONS 

tie,  and  will  not  listen  to  reason.  If  she  would  only 
remain  quietly  indoors,  with  her  hair  braided,  and 
pray  and  read  her  Catechism,  instead  of  running 
about  after  flowers  and  birds  and  butterflies  and  such 
unsubstantial  things,  it  would  be  better  for  both  of 
us." 

"  In  what  way,  old  man?  " 

"  Why,  it  is  plain  that  if  she  would  cultivate  the 
acquaintance  of  the  people  that  surround  her — I 
mean  those  that  come  to  her  from  her  sainted  mother 
— and  are  ready  to  do  her  bidding  in  everything,  she 
could  make  it  more  safe  for  us  in  this  place.  For 
example,  there  is  Runi  and  his  people,  why  should 
they  remain  living  so  near  us  as  to  be  a  constant 
danger  when  a  pestilence  of  small-pox  or  some  other 
fever  might  easily  be  sent  to  kill  them  off?  " 

"  And  have  you  ever  suggested  such  a  thing  to 
your  grandchild?  " 

He  looked  surprised  and  grieved  at  the  question. 
M  Yes,  many  times,  senor,"  he  said.  "  I  should  have 
been  a  poor  Christian  had  I  not  mentioned  it.  But 
when  I  speak  of  it  she  gives  me  a  look  and  is  gone,, 
and  I  see  no  more  of  her  all  daj^,  and  when  I  see  her 
she  refuses  even  to  answer  me ; — so  perverse,  so  fool- 
ish is  she  in  her  ignorance ;  for,  as  you  can  see  for 
yourself,  she  has  no  more  sense  or  concern  about 
what  is  most  important  than  some  little  painted  fly 
that  flits  about  all  day  long  without  any  object." 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  next  day  we  were  early  at  work.  Nuflo 
had  already  gathered,  dried,  and  conveyed  to 
a  place  of  concealment  the  greater  portion  of  his 
garden  produce.  He  was  determined  to  leave  noth- 
ing to  be  taken  by  any  wandering  party  of  savages 
that  might  call  at  the  house  during  our  absence. 
He  had  no  fear  of  a  visit  from  his  neighbours ;  they 
would  not  know,  he  said,  that  he  and  Rima  were  out 
of  the  wood.  A  few  large  earthen  pots,  filled  with 
shelled  maize,  beans,  and  sun-dried  strips  of  pump- 
kin, still  remained  to  be  disposed  of.  Taking  up 
one  of  these  vessels  and  asking  me  to  follow  with 
another,  he  started  off  through  the  wood.  We  went 
a  distance  of  five  or  six  hundred  yards ;  then  made 
our  way  down  a  very  steep  incline,  close  to  the  border 
of  the  forest  on  the  western  side;  arrived  at  the  bot- 
tom, we  followed  the  bank  a  little  further,  and  I  then 
found  myself  once  more  at  the  foot  of  the  precipice 
over  which  I  had  desperately  thrown  myself  on  the 
stormy  evening  after  the  snake  had  bitten  me.  Nu- 
flo, stealing  silently  and  softly  before  me  through  the 
bushes,  had  observed  a  caution  and  secrecy  in  ap- 
proaching this  spot  resembling  that  of  a  wise  old  hen 

when  she  visits  her  hidden  nest  to  lay  an  egg.     And 

225 


226  GREEN  MANSIONS 

here  was  his  nest,  his  most  secret  treasure-house, 
which  he  had  probably  not  revealed  even  to  me  with- 
out a  sharp  inward  conflict,  notwithstanding  that  our 
fates  were  now  linked  together.  The  lower  portion 
of  the  bank  was  of  rock;  and  in  it,  about  ten  or 
twelve  feet  above  the  ground,  but  easily  reached  from 
below,  there  was  a  natural  cavity  large  enough  to 
contain  all  his  portable  property.  Here,  besides  the 
food-stuff,  he  had  already  stored  a  quantity  of  dried 
tobacco  leaf,  his  rude  weapons,  cooking  utensils, 
ropes,  mats,  and  other  objects.  Two  or  three  more 
journeys  were  made  for  the  remaining  pots,  after 
which  we  adjusted  a  slab  of  sandstone  to  the  open- 
ing, which  was  fortunately  narrow,  plastered  up  the 
crevices  with  clay,  and  covered  them  over  with  moss 
to  hide  all  traces  of  our  work. 

Towards  evening,  after  we  had  refreshed  ourselves 
with  a  long  siesta,  Nuflo  brought  out  from  some 
other  hiding-place  two  sacks ;  one  weighing  about 
twenty  pounds  and  containing  smoke-dried  meat, 
also  grease  and  gum  for  lighting  purposes,  and  a  few 
other  small  objects.  This  was  his  load;  the  other 
sack,  which  was  smaller  and  contained  parched  corn 
and  raw  beans,  was  for  me  to  carry. 

The  old  man,  cautious  in  all  his  movements,  al- 
ways acting  as  if  surrounded  by  invisible  spies,  de- 
layed setting  out  until  an  hour  after  dark.  Then, 
skirting  the  forest  on  its  west  side,  we  left  Ytaioa 
on  our  right  hand,  and  after  travelling  over  rough, 


GREEN  MANSIONS  227 

difficult  ground,  with  only  the  stars  to  light  us,  we 
saw  the  waning  moon  rise  not  long  before  dawn. 
Our  course  had  been  a  north-easterly  one  at  first ; 
now  it  was  due  east,  with  broad,  dry  savannahs  and 
patches  of  open  forest  as  far  as  we  could  see  before 
us.  It  was  weary  walking  on  that  first  night,  and 
weary  waiting  on  the  first  day  when  we  sat  in  the 
shade  during  the  long,  hot  hours,  persecuted  by  small 
stinging  flies  ;  but  the  days  and  nights  that  succeeded 
were  far  worse,  when  the  weather  became  bad  with 
intense  heat  and  frequent  heavy  falls  of  rain.  The 
one  compensation  I  had  looked  for,  which  would  have 
outweighed  all  the  extreme  discomforts  we  suffered, 
was  denied  me.  Rima  was  no  more  to  me  or  with 
me  now  than  she  had  been  during  those  wild  days  in 
her  native  woods,  when  every  bush  and  bole  and  tan- 
gled creeper  or  fern-frond  had  joined  in  a  con- 
spiracy to  keep  her  out  of  my  sight.  It  is  true  that 
at  intervals  in  the  daytime  she  was  visible,  some- 
times within  speaking  distance,  so  that  I  could  ad- 
dress a  few  words  to  her,  but  there  was  no  compan- 
ionship, and  we  were  fellow-travellers  only  like  birds 
flying  independently  in  the  same  direction,  not  so 
widely  separated  but  that  they  can  occasionally  hear 
and  see  each  other.  The  pilgrim  in  the  desert  is 
sometimes  attended  by  a  bird,  and  the  bird,  with  its 
freer  motions,  will  often  leave  him  a  league  behind 
and  seem  lost  to  him,  but  only  to  return  and  show  its 
form  again;  for  it  has  never  lost  sight  nor  recollec- 


228  GREEN  MANSIONS 

tion  of  the  traveller  toiling  slowly  over  the  surface. 
Rima  kept  us  company  in  some  such  wild  erratic  way 
as  that.  A  word,  a  sign  from  Nuflo  was  enough  for 
her  to  know  the  direction  to  take ;  the  distant  forest 
or  still  more  distant  mountain  near  which  we  should 
have  to  pass.  She  would  hasten  on  and  be  lost  to 
our  sight,  and  when  there  was  a  forest  in  the  way  she 
would  explore  it,  resting  in  the  shade  and  finding  her 
own  food ;  but  invariably  she  was  before  us  at  each 
resting  or  camping  place. 

Indian  villages  were  seen  during  the  journey,  but 
only  to  be  avoided:  and  in  like  manner,  if  we  caught 
sight  of  Indians  travelling  or  camping  at  a  distance, 
we  would  alter  our  course,  or  conceal  ourselves  to 
escape  observation.  Only  on  one  occasion,  two  days 
after  setting  out,  were  we  compelled  to  speak  with 
strangers.  We  were  going  round  a  hill,  and  all  at 
once  came  face  to  face  with  three  persons  travelling 
in  an  opposite  direction — two  men  and  a  woman, 
and,  by  a  strange  fatality,  Rima  at  that  moment 
happened  to  be  with  us.  We  stood  for  some  time  talk- 
ing to  these  people,  who  were  evidently  surprised  at 
our  appearance,  and  wished  to  learn  who  we  were; 
but  Nuflo,  who  spoke  their  language  like  one  of  them- 
selves, was  too  cunning  to  give  any  true  answer. 
They,  on  their  side,  told  us  that  they  had  been  to 
visit  a  relative  at  Chani,  the  name  of  a  river  three 
da}^s  ahead  of  us,  and  were  now  returning  to  their 
own  village  at  Baila-baila,  two  days  beyond  Para- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  229 

huari.  After  parting  from  them  Nuflo  was  much 
troubled  in  his  mind  for  the  rest  of  that  day.  These 
people,  he  said,  would  probably  rest  at  some  Para- 
huari  village,  where  they  would  be  sure  to  give  a  de- 
scription of  us,  and  so  it  might  eventually  come  to 
the  knowledge  of  our  unneighbourly  neighbour  Runi 
that  we  had  left  Ytaioa. 

Other  incidents  of  our  long  and  wearisome  journey 
need  not  be  related.  Sitting  under  some  shady  tree 
during  the  sultry  hours,  with  Rima  only  too  far  out 
of  earshot,  or  by  the  nightly  fire,  the  old  man  told  me 
little  by  little  and  with  much  digression,  chiefly  on 
sacred  subjects,  the  strange  story  of  the  girl's  origin. 

About  seventeen  years  back — Nuflo  had  no  sure 
method  to  compute  time  by — when  he  was  already 
verging  on  old  age,  he  was  one  of  a  company  of  nine 
men,  living  a  kind  of  roving  life  in  the  very  part  of 
Guayana  through  which  we  were  now  travelling;  the 
others,  much  younger  than  himself,  were  all  equally 
offenders  against  the  laws  of  Venezuela,  and  fugitives 
from  justice.  Nuflo  was  the  leader  of  this  gang,  for 
it  happened  that  he  had  passed  a  great  portion  of 
his  life  outside  the  pale  of  civilisation,  and  could  talk 
the  Indian  language,  and  knew  this  part  of  Guayana 
intimately.  But  according  to  his  own  account  he 
was  not  in  harmony  with  them.  They  were  bold, 
desperate  men,  whose  evil  appetites  had  so  far  only 
been  whetted  by  the  crimes  they  had  committed; 
while  he,  with  passions  worn  out,  recalling  his  many 


230  GREEN  MANSIONS 

bad  acts,  and  with  a  vivid  conviction  of  the  truth  of 
all  he  had  been  taught  in  early  life — for  Nuflo  was 
nothing  if  not  religious — was  now  grown  timid  and 
desirous  only  of  making  his  peace  with  Heaven. 
This  difference  of  disposition  made  him  morose  and 
quarrelsome  with  his  companions ;  and  they  would, 
he  said,  have  murdered  him  without  remorse  if  he  had 
not  been  so  useful  to  them.  Their  favourite  plan 
was  to  hang  about  the  neighbourhood  of  some  small 
isolated  settlement,  keeping  a  watch  on  it,  and,  when 
most  of  the  male  inhabitants  were  absent,  to  swoop 
down  on  it  and  work  their  will.  Now  shortly  after 
one  of  these  raids  it  happened  that  a  woman  they 
had  carried  off,  becoming  a  burden  to  them,  was  flung 
into  a  river  to  the  alligators ;  but  when  being 
dragged  down  to  the  waterside  she  cast  up  her  eyes, 
and  in  a  loud  voice  cried  to  God  to  execute  venge- 
ance on  her  murderers.  Nuflo  affirmed  that  he  took 
no  part  in  this  black  deed:  nevertheless,  the  woman's 
dying  appeal  to  Heaven  preyed  on  his  mind;  he 
feared  that  it  might  have  won  a  hearing,  and  the 
"  person  "  eventually  commissioned  to  execute  venge- 
ance— after  the  usual  days,  of  course — might  act 
on  the  principle  of  the  old  proverb — Tell  me  whom 
you  are  with,  and  I  will  tell  you  what  you  are — and 
punish  the  innocent  (himself  to  wit)  along  with  the 
guilty.  But  while  thus  anxious  about  his  spiritual 
interests  he  was  not  yet  prepared  to  break  with  his 
companions.     He  thought  it  best  to  temporise,  and 


GREEN  MANSIONS  231 

succeeded  in  persuading  them  that  it  would  be  un- 
safe to  attack  another  Christian  settlement  for  some 
time  to  come ;  that  in  the  interval  they  might  find 
some  pleasure,  if  no  great  credit,  by  turning  their 
attention  to  the  Indians.  The  infidels,  he  said,  were 
God's  natural  enemies  and  fair  game  to  the  Christian. 
To  make  a  long  story  short,  Nuflo's  Christian  band, 
after  some  successful  adventures,  met  with  a  reverse 
which  reduced  their  number  from  nine  to  five.  Fly- 
ing from  their  enemies  they  sought  safety  at  Rio- 
lama,  an  uninhabited  place,  where  they  found  it  pos- 
sible to  exist  for  some  weeks  on  game,  which  was 
abundant,  and  wild  fruits. 

One  day  at  noon,  while  ascending  a  mountain  at 
the  southern  extremity  of  the  Riolama  range,  in  or- 
der to  get  a  view  of  the  country  beyond  the  summit, 
Nuflo  and  his  companions  discovered  a  cave ;  and 
finding  it  dry,  without  animal  occupants,  and  with  a 
level  floor,  they  at  once  determined  to  make  it  their 
dwelling-place  for  a  season.  Wood  for  firing  and 
water  were  to  be  had  close  by ;  they  were  also  well 
provided  with  smoked  flesh  of  a  tapir  they  had  slaugh- 
tered a  day  or  two  before,  so  that  they  could  afford 
to  rest  for  a  time  in  so  comfortable  a  shelter.  At  a 
short  distance  from  the  cave  they  made  a  fire  on  the 
rock  to  toast  some  slices  of  meat  for  their  dinner; 
and  while  thus  engaged  all  at  once  one  of  the  men 
uttered  a  cry  of  astonishment,  and  casting  up  his 
eyes  Nuflo  beheld,  standing  near  and  regarding  them 


232  GREEN  MANSIONS 

with  surprise  and  fear  in  her  wide-open  eyes,  a 
woman  of  a  most  wonderful  appearance.  The  one 
slight  garment  she  had  on  was  silky  and  white  as  the 
snow  on  the  summit  of  some  great  mountain,  but  of 
the  snow  when  the  sinking  sun  touches  and  gives  it 
some  delicate  changing  colour  which  is  like  fire.  Her 
dark  hair  was  like  a  cloud  from  which  her  face 
looked  out,  and  her  head  was  surrounded  by  an  aure- 
ole like  that  of  a  saint  in  a  picture,  only  more  beau- 
tiful. For,  said  Nuflo,  a  picture  is  a  picture,  and 
the  other  was  a  reality,  which  is  finer.  Seeing  her 
he  fell  on  his  knees  and  crossed  himself;  and  all  the 
time  her  eyes,  full  of  amazement  and  shining  with 
such  a  strange  splendour  that  he  could  not  meet 
them,  were  fixed  on  him  and  not  on  the  others ;  and 
he  felt  that  she  had  come  to  save  his  soul,  in  danger 
of  perdition  owing  to  his  companionship  with  men 
who  were  at  war  with  God  and  wholly  bad. 

But  at  this  moment  his  comrades,  recovering  from 
their  astonishment,  sprang  to  their  feet,  and  the 
heavenly  woman  vanished.  Just  behind  where  she 
had  stood,  and  not  twelve  yards  from  them,  there 
was  a  huge  chasm  in  the  mountain,  its  jagged  precip- 
itous sides  clothed  with  thorny  bushes ;  the  men  now 
cried  out  that  she  had  made  her  escape  that  way, 
and  down  after  her  they  rushed,  pell-mell. 

Nuflo  cried  out  after  them  that  they  had  seen  a 
saint  and  that  some  horrible  thing  would  befall  them 
if  they  allowed  any  evil  thought  to  enter  their  hearts ; 


GREEN  MANSIONS  233 

but  they  scoffed  at  his  words,  and  were  soon  far  down 
out  of  hearing,  while  he,  trembling  with  fear,  re- 
mained praying  to  the  woman  that  had  appeared  to 
them,  and  had  looked  with  such  strange  eyes  at  him, 
not  to  punish  him  for  the  sins  of  the  others. 

Before  long  the  men  returned,  disappointed  and 
sullen,  for  they  had  failed  in  their  search  for  the 
woman ;  and  perhaps  Nuflo's  warning  words  had 
made  them  give  up  the  chase  too  soon.  At  all  events, 
they  seemed  ill  at  ease,  and  made  up  their  minds  to 
abandon  the  cave:  in  a  short  time  they  left  the  place 
to  camp  that  night  at  a  considerable  distance  from 
the  mountain.  But  they  were  not  satisfied:  they 
had  now  recovered  from  their  fear,  but  not  from  the 
excitement  of  an  evil  passion ;  and  finally,  after  com- 
paring notes,  they  came  to  the  conclusion  that  they 
had  missed  a  great  prize  through  Nuflo's  cowardice ; 
and  when  he  reproved  them  they  blasphemed  all  the 
saints  in  the  calendar  and  even  threatened  him  with 
violence.  Fearing  to  remain  longer  in  the  company 
of  such  godless  men,  he  only  waited  until  they  slept, 
then  rose  up  cautiously,  helped  himself  to  most  of 
the  provisions,  and  made  his  escape,  devoutly  hoping 
that  after  losing  their  guide  they  would  all  speedily 
perish. 

Finding  himself  alone  now  and  master  of  his  own 
actions,  Nuflo  was  in  terrible  distress,  for  while  his 
heart  was  in  the  utmost  fear,  it  yet  urged  him  im- 
periously to  go  back  to  the  mountain,  to  seek  again 


£34  GREEN  MANSIONS 

for  that  sacred  being  who  had  appeared  to  him,  and 
had  been  driven  away  by  his  brutal  companions.  If 
he  obeyed  that  inner  voice,  he  would  be  saved ;  if  he 
resisted  it  then  there  would  be  no  hope  for  him,  and 
along  with  those  who  had  cast  the  woman  to  the  alli- 
gators he  would  be  lost  eternally.  Finally,  on  the 
following  day,  he  went  back,  although  not  without 
fear  and  trembling,  and  sat  down  on  a  stone  just 
where  he  had  sat  toasting  his  tapir  meat  on  the  pre- 
vious day.  But  he  waited  in  vain,  and  at  length  that 
voice  within  him,  which  he  had  so  far  obeyed,  began 
urging  him  to  descend  into  the  valley-like  chasm  down 
which  the  woman  had  escaped  from  his  comrades, 
and  to  seek  for  her  there.  Accordingly  he  rose  and 
began  cautiously  and  slowly  climbing  down  over  the 
broken  jagged  rocks  and  through  a  dense  mass  of 
thorny  bushes  and  creepers.  At  the  bottom  of  the 
chasm  a  clear,  swift  stream  of  water  rushed  with 
foam  and  noise  along  its  rocky  bed ;  but  before 
reaching  it,  and  when  it  was  still  twenty  yards  lower 
down,  he  was  startled  by  hearing  a  low  moan  among 
the  bushes,  and  looking  about  for  the  cause,  he  found 
the  wonderful  woman — his  saviour,  as  he  expressed 
it.  She  was  not  now  standing  nor  able  to  stand,  but 
half  reclining  among  the  rough  stones,  one  foot, 
which  she  had  sprained  in  that  headlong  flight  down 
the  ragged  slope,  wedged  immovably  between  the 
rocks ;  and  in  this  painful  position  she  had  remained 
a  prisoner  since  noon  on  the  previous  day.      She  now 


GREEN  MANSIONS  235 

gazed  on  her  visitor  in  silent  consternation ;  while  he, 
casting  himself  prostrate  on  the  ground,  implored 
her  forgiveness  and  begged  to  know  her  will.  But 
she  made  no  reply;  and  at  length,  finding  that  she 
was  powerless  to  move,  he  concluded  that,  though  a 
saint  and  one  of  the  beings  that  men  worship,  she 
was  -also  flesh  and  liable  to  accidents  while  sojourn- 
ing on  earth ;  and  perhaps,  he  thought,  that  accident 
which  had  befallen  her  had  been  specially  designed 
by  the  powers  above  to  prove  him.  With  great  la- 
bour, and  not  without  causing  her  much  pain,  he 
succeeded  in  extricating  her  from  her  position ;  and 
then  finding  that  the  injured  foot  was  half  crushed 
and  blue  and  swollen,  he  took  her  up  in  his  arms  and 
carried  her  to  the  stream.  There,  making  a  cup  of 
a  broad  green  leaf,  he  offered  her  water,  which  she 
drank  eagerly;  and  he  also  laved  her  injured  foot 
in  the  cold  stream  and  bandaged  it  with  fresh  aquatic 
leaves ;  finally  he  made  her  a  soft  bed  of  moss  and 
dry  grass  and  placed  her  on  it.  That  night  he  spent 
keeping  watch  over  her,  at  intervals  applying  fresh 
wet  leaves  to  her  foot  as  the  old  ones  became  dry 
and  wilted  from  the  heat  of  the  inflammation. 

The  effect  of  all  he  did  was  that  the  terror  with 
which  she  regarded  him  gradually  wore  off ;  and  next 
day,  when  she  seemed  to  be  recovering  her  strength, 
he  proposed  by  signs  to  remove  her  to  the  cave  higher 
up,  where  she  would  be  sheltered  in  case  of  rain. 
She  appeared  to  understand  him,  and  allowed  herself 


236  GREEN  MANSIONS 

to  be  taken  up  in  his  arms,  and  carried  with  much 
labour  to  the  top  of  the  chasm.  In  the  cave  he 
made  her  a  second  couch,  and  tended  her  assiduously. 
He  made  a  fire  on  the  floor  and  kept  it  burning  night 
and  day,  and  supplied  her  with  water  to  drink  and 
fresh  leaves  for  her  foot.  There  was  little  more  that 
he  could  do.  From  the  choicest  and  fattest  bits  of 
toasted  tapir  flesh  he  offered  her  she  turned  away 
with  disgust.  A  little  cassava-bread  soaked  in  water 
she  would  take,  but  seemed  not  to  like  it.  After  a 
time,  fearing  that  she  would  starve,  he  took  to  hunt- 
ing after  wild  fruits,  edible  bulbs  and  gums,  and  on 
these  small  things  she  subsisted  during  the  whole  time 
of  their  sojourn  together  in  the  desert. 

The  woman,  although  lamed  for  life,  was  now  so 
far  recovered  as  to  be  able  to  limp  about  without 
assistance,  and  she  spent  a  portion  of  each  day  out 
among  the  rocks  and  trees  on  the  mountains.  Nuflo 
at  first  feared  that  she  would  now  leave  him,  but  be- 
fore long  he  became  convinced  that  she  had  no  such 
intentions.  And  yet  she  was  profoundly  unhappy. 
He  was  accustomed  to  see  her  seated  on  a  rock,  as  if 
brooding  over  some  secret  grief,  her  head  bowed,  and 
great  tears  falling  from  half-closed  eyes. 

From  the  first  he  had  conceived  the  idea  that  she 
was  in  the  way  of  becoming  a  mother  at  no  distant 
date? — an  idea  which  seemed  to  accord  badly  with 
the  suppositions  as  to  the  nature  of  this  heavenly 
being  he  was  privileged  to  minister  to  and  so  win 


GREEN  MANSIONS  237 

salvation ;  but  he  was  now  convinced  of  its  truth,  and 
he  imagined  that  in  her  condition  he  had  discovered 
the  cause  of  that  sorrow  and  anxiety  which  preyed 
continually  on  her.  By  means  of  that  dumb  lan- 
guage of  signs  which  enabled  them  to  converse  to- 
gether a  little,  he  made  it  known  to  her  that  at  a 
great  distance  from  the  mountains  there  existed  a 
place  where  there  were  beings  like  herself,  women, 
and  mothers  of  children,  who  would  comfort  and  ten- 
derly care  for  her.  When  she  had  understood,  she 
seemed  pleased  and  willing  to  accompany  him  to  that 
distant  place;  and  so  it  came  to  pass  that  they  left 
their  rocky  shelter  and  the  mountains  of  Riolama 
far  behind.  But  for  several  days,  as  they  slowly 
journeyed  over  the  plain,  she  would  pause  at  inter- 
vals in  her  limping  walk  to  gaze  back  on  those  blue 
summits,  shedding  abundant  tears. 

Fortunately  the  village  Voa,  on  the  river  of  the 
same  name,  which  was  the  nearest  Christian  settle- 
ment to  Riolama,  whither  his  course  was  directed, 
was  well  known  to  him;  he  had  lived  there  in  former 
years,  and  what  was  of  great  advantage,  the  inhabit- 
ants were  ignorant  of  his  worst  crimes,  or,  to  put  it 
in  his  own  subtle  way,  of  the  crimes  committed  by 
the  men  he  had  acted  with.  Great  was  the  astonish- 
ment and  curiosity  of  the  people  of  Voa  when,  after 
many  weeks'  travelling,  Nuflo  arrived  at  last  with 
his  companion.  But  he  was  not  going  to  tell  the 
truth,  nor  even  the  least  particle  of  the  truth,  to  a 


238  GREEN  MANSIONS 

gaping  crowd  of  inferior  persons.  For  these,  in- 
genious lies :  only  to  the  priest  he  told  the  whole 
story,  dwelling  minutely  on  all  he  had  done  to  rescue 
and  protect  her;  all  of  which  was  approved  by  the 
holy  man,  whose  first  act  was  to  baptise  the  woman 
for  fear  that  she  was  not  a  Christian.  Let  it  be  said 
to  Nuflo's  credit  that  he  objected  to  this  ceremony, 
arguing  that  she  could  not  be  a  saint,  with  an  aureole 
in  token  of  her  sainthood,  yet  stand  in  need  of  being 
baptised  by  a  priest.  A  priest — he  added,  with  a 
little  chuckle  of  malicious  pleasure — who  was  often 
seen  drunk,  who  cheated  at  cards,  and  was  some- 
times suspected  of  putting  poison  on  his  fighting- 
cock's  spur  to  make  sure  of  the  victory !  Doubtless 
the  priest  had  his  faults ;  but  he  was  not  without  hu- 
manity, and  for  the  whole  seven  years  of  that  un- 
happy stranger's  sojourn  at  Voa  he  did  everything 
in  his  power  to  make  her  existence  tolerable.  Some 
weeks  after  arriving  she  gave  birth  to  a  female  child, 
and  then  the  priest  insisted  on  naming  it  Riolama, 
in  order,  he  said,  to  keep  in  remembrance  the  strange 
story  of  the  mother's  discovery  at  that  place. 

Rima's  mother  could  not  be  taught  to  speak  either 
Spanish  or  Indian ;  and  when  she  found  that  the 
mysterious  and  melodious  sounds  that  fell  from  her 
own  lips  were  understood  by  none  she  ceased  to  utter 
them,  and  thereafter  preserved  an  unbroken  silence 
among  the  people  she  lived  with.  But  from  the  pres- 
ence of  others  she  shrank,  as  if  in  disgust  or  fear, 


GREEN  MANSIONS  239 

excepting  only  Nuflo  and  the  priest,  whose  kindly 
intentions  she  appeared  to  understand  and  appreci- 
ate. So  far  her  life  in  the  village  was  silent  and 
sorrowful.  With  her  child  it  was  different;  and 
every  day  that  was  not  wet,  taking  the  little  thing 
by  the  hand,  she  would  limp  painfully  out  into  the 
forest,  and  there,  sitting  on  the  ground,  the  two 
would  commune  with  each  other  by  the  hour  in  their 
wonderful  language. 

At  length  she  began  to  grow  perceptibly  paler  and 
feebler  week  by  week,  day  by  day,  until  she  could  no 
longer  go  out  into  the  wood,  but  sat  or  reclined, 
panting  for  breath  in  the  dull  hot  room,  waiting  for 
death  to  release  her.  At  the  same  time  little  Rima, 
who  had  always  appeared  frail,  as  if  from  sj^mpathy, 
now  began  to  fade  and  look  more  shadowy,  so  that 
it  was  expected  she  would  not  long  survive  her  par- 
ent. To  the  mother  death  came  slowly,  but  at  last 
it  seemed  so  near  that  Nuflo  and  the  priest  were  to- 
gether at  her  side  waiting  to  see  the  end.  It  was 
then  that  little  Rima,  who  had  learnt  from  infancy 
to  speak  in  Spanish,  rose  from  the  couch  where  her 
mother  had  been  whispering  to  her,  and  began  with 
some  difficulty  to  express  what  was  in  the  dying 
woman's  mind.  Her  child,  she  had  said,  could  not 
continue  to  live  in  that  hot  wet  place,  but  if  taken 
away  to  a  distance  where  there  were  mountains  and 
a  cooler  air  she  would  survive  and  grow  strong  again. 

Hearing  this,  old  Nuflo  declared  that  the   child 


240  GREEN  MANSIONS 

should  not  perish ;  that  he  himself  would  take  her 
away  to  Parahuari,  a  distant  place  where  there  were 
mountains  and  dry  plains  and  open  woods ;  that  he 
would  watch  over  her  and  care  for  her  there  as  he 
had  cared  for  her  mother  at  Riolama. 

When  the  substance  of  this  speech  had  been  made 
known  by  Rima  to  the  dying  woman,  she  suddenly 
rose  up  from  her  couch,  which  she  had  not  risen  from 
for  many  days,  and  stood  erect  on  the  floor,  her 
wasted  face  shining  with  joy.  Then  Nuflo  knew  that 
God's  angels  had  come  for  her,  and  put  out  his  arms 
to  save  her  from  falling;  and  even  while  he  held  her 
that  sudden  glory  went  out  from  her  face,  now  of  a 
dead  white  like  burnt-out  ashes ;  and  murmuring 
something  soft  and  melodious,  her  spirit  passed 
away. 

Once  more  Nuflo  became  a  wanderer,  now  with  the 
fragile-looking  little  Rima  for  companion,  the  sacred 
child  who  had  inherited  the  position  of  his  intercessor 
from  a  sacred  mother.  The  priest,  who  had  prob- 
ably become  infected  with  Nuflo's  superstitions,  did 
not  allow  them  to  leave  Voa  empty-handed,  but  gave 
the  old  man  as  much  calico  as  would  serve  to  buy 
hospitality  and  whatsoever  he  might  require  from  the 
Indians  for  many  a  day  to  come. 

At  Parahuari,  where  they  arrived  safely  at  last, 
they  lived  for  some  little  time  at  one  of  the  villages. 
But  the  child  had  an  instinctive  aversion  to  all  sav- 
ages, or  possibly  the  feeling  was  derived  from  her 


GREEN  MANSIONS  241 

mother,  for  it  had  shown  itself  early  at  Voa,  where 
she  had  refused  to  learn  their  language;  and  this 
eventually  led  Nuflo  to  go  away  and  live  apart  from 
them,  in  the  forest  by  Ytaioa,  where  he  made  himself 
a  house  and  garden.  The  Indians,  however,  contin- 
ued friendly  with  him  and  visited  him  with  frequency. 
But  when  Rima  grew  up,  developing  into  that  mys- 
terious woodland  girl  I  found  her,  they  became  sus- 
picious, and  in  the  end  regarded  her  with  danger- 
ously hostile  feeling.  She,  poor  child,  detested  them 
because  they  were  incessantly  at  war  with  the  wild 
animals  she  loved,  her  companions ;  and  having  no 
fear  of  them,  for  she  did  not  know  that  they  had  it 
in  their  minds  to  turn  their  little  poisonous  arrows 
against  herself,  she  was  constantly  in  the  woods  frus- 
trating them ;  and  the  animals,  in  league  with  her, 
seemed  to  understand  her  note  of  warning  and  hid 
themselves  or  took  to  flight  at  the  approach  of  dan- 
ger. At  length  their  hatred  and  fear  grew  to  such 
a  degree  that  they  determined  to  make  away  with 
her,  and  one  day,  having  matured  a  plan,  they  went 
to  the  wood  and  spread  themselves  two  and  two  about 
it.  The  couples  did  not  keep  together,  but  moved 
about  or  remained  concealed  at  a  distance  of  forty 
or  fifty  yards  apart,  lest  she  should  be  missed.  Two 
of  the  savages,  armed  with  blow-pipes,  were  near  the 
border  of  the  forest  on  the  side  nearest  to  the  vil- 
lage, and  one  of  them,  observing  a  motion  in  the 
foliage  of  a  tree,  ran  swiftly  and  cautiously  towards 


M2  GREEN  MANSIONS 

it  to  try  and  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  enemy.  And  he 
did  see  her  no  doubt,  as  she  was  there  watching  both 
him  and  his  companions,  and  blew  an  arrow  at  her, 
but  even  while  in  the  act  of  blowing  it  he  was  himself 
struck  by  a  dart  that  buried  itself  deep  in  his  flesh 
just  over  the  heart.  He  ran  some  distance  with  the 
fatal  barbed  point  in  his  flesh  and  met  his  comrade, 
who  had  mistaken  him  for  the  girl  and  shot  him. 
The  wounded  man  threw  himself  down  to  die,  and 
dying  related  that  he  had  fired  at  the  girl  sitting  up 
in  a  tree  and  that  she  had  caught  the  arrow  in  her 
hand  only  to  hurl  it  instantly  back  with  such  force 
and  precision  that  it  pierced  his  flesh  just  over  the 
heart.  He  had  seen  it  all  with  his  own  eyes,  and  his 
friend  who  had  accidentally  slain  him  believed  his 
story  and  repeated  it  to  the  others.  Rima  had  seen 
one  Indian  shoot  the  other,  and  when  she  told  her 
grandfather  he  explained  to  her  that  it  was  an  acci- 
dent, but  he  guessed  why  the  arrow  had  been  fired. 

From  that  day  the  Indians  hunted  no  more  in  the 
wood ;  and  at  length  one  day  Nuflo,  meeting  an  In- 
dian who  did  not  know  him  and  with  whom  he  had 
some  talk,  heard  the  strange  story  of  the  arrow,  and 
that  the  mysterious  girl  who  could  not  be  shot  was 
the  offspring  of  an  old  man  and  a  Didi  who  had  be- 
come enamoured  of  him ;  that,  growing  tired  of  her 
consort,  the  Didi  had  returned  to  her  river,  leaving 
her  half-human  child  to  play  her  malicious  pranks  in 
the  wood. 


GREEN  MANSIONS  243 

This,  then,  was  Nuflo's  story,  told  not  in  Nuflo's 
manner,  which  was  infinitely  prolix ;  and  think  not 
that  it  failed  to  move  me — that  I  failed  to  bless  him 
for  what  he  had  done,  in  spite  of  his  selfish  motives. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

"E  were  eighteen  days  travelling  to  Riolama, 
on  the  last  two  making  little  progress,  on 
account  of  continuous  rain,  which  made  us  miserable 
beyond  description.  Fortunately  the  dogs  had 
found,  and  Nuflo  had  succeeded  in  killing,  a  great 
ant-eater,  so  that  we  were  well  supplied  with  excel- 
lent, strength-giving  flesh.  We  were  among  the  Rio- 
lama mountains  at  last,  and  Rima  kept  with  us,  ap- 
parently expecting  great  things.  I  expected  noth- 
ing, for  reasons  to  be  stated  by-and-by.  My  belief 
was  that  the  only  important  thing  that  could  hap- 
pen to  us  would  be  starvation. 

The  afternoon  of  the  last  day  was  spent  in  skirt- 
ing the  foot  of  a  very  long  mountain,  crowned  at  its 
southern  extremity  with  a  huge,  rocky  mass  resem- 
bling the  head  of  a  stone  sphinx  above  its  long, 
couchant  body,  and  at  its  highest  part  about  a  thou- 
sand feet  above  the  surrounding  level.  It  was  late 
in  the  day,  raining  fast  again,  yet  the  old  man  still 
toiled  on,  contrary  to  his  usual  practice,  which  was 
to  spend  the  last  daylight  hours  in  gathering  fire- 
wood   and    in    constructing    a    shelter.     At    length, 

when  we  were  nearly  under  the  peak,  he  began  to 

244 


GREEN  MANSIONS  245 

ascend.  The  rise  in  this  place  was  gentle,  and  the 
vegetation,  chiefly  composed  of  dwarf  thorn  trees 
rooted  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  scarcely  impeded  our 
progress ;  yet  Nuflo  moved  obliquely,  as  if  he  found 
the  ascent  difficult,  pausing  frequently  to  take  breath 
and  look  round  him.  Then  we  came  to  a  deep, 
ravine-like  cleft  in  the  side  of  the  mountain,  which 
became  deeper  and  narrower  above  us,  but  below  it 
broadened  out  to  a  valley;  its  steep  sides  as  we 
looked  down  were  clothed  with  dense,  thorny  vegeta- 
tion, and  from  the  bottom  rose  to  our  ears  the  dull 
sound  of  a  hidden  torrent.  Along  the  border  of  this 
ravine  Nuflo  began  toiling  upwards,  and  finally 
brought  us  out  upon  a  stony  plateau  on  the  moun- 
tain-side. Here  he  paused,  and  turning  and  re- 
garding us  with  a  look  as  of  satisfied  malice  in  his 
eyes,  remarked  that  we  were  at  our  journey's  end, 
and  he  trusted  the  sight  of  that  barren  mountainside 
would  compensate  us  for  all  the  discomforts  we  had 
suffered  during  the  last  eighteen  days. 

I  heard  him  with  indifference.  I  had  already 
recognised  the  place  from  his  own  exact  description 
of  it,  and  I  now  saw  all  that  I  had  looked  to  see — a 
big,  barren  hill.  But  Rima,  what  had  she  expected 
that  her  face  wore  that  blank  look  of  surprise  and 
pain?  "  Is  this  the  place  where  mother  appeared 
to  you?  "  she  suddenly  cried.  "  The  very  place — 
this !  this !  "  Then  she  added,  "  The  cave  where 
you  tended  her — where  is  it  ?  " 


UQ  GREEN  MANSIONS 

"  Over  there,"  he  said,  pointing  across  the  plateau, 
which  was  partially  overgrown  with  dwarf  trees  and 
bushes,  and  ended  at  a  wall  of  rock,  almost  vertical 
and  about  forty  feet  high. 

Going  to  this  precipice,  we  saw  no  cave  until  Nuflo 
had  cut  away  two  or  three  tangled  bushes,  revealing 
an  opening  behind,  about  half  as  high  and  twice  as 
wide  as  the  door  of  an  ordinary  dwelling-house. 

The  next  thing  was  to  make  a  torch,  and  aided  by 
its  light  we  groped  our  way  in  and  explored  the  in- 
terior. The  cave,  we  found,  was  about  fifty  feet 
long,  narrowing  to  a  mere  hole  at  the  extremity ;  but 
the  anterior  portion  formed  an  oblong  chamber, 
very  lofty,  with  a  dry  floor.  Leaving  our  torch 
burning,  we  set  to  work  cutting  bushes  to  supply  our- 
selves with  wood  enough  to  last  us  all  night.  Nuflo, 
poor  old  man,  loved  a  big  fire  dearly ;  a  big  fire  and 
fat  meat  to  eat  (the  ranker  its  flavour  the  better  he 
liked  it)  were  to  him  the  greatest  blessings  that  man 
could  wish  for:  in  me  also  the  prospect  of  a  cheerful 
blaze  put  a  new  heart,  and  I  worked  with  a  will  in 
the  rain,  which  increased  in  the  end  to  a  blinding 
downpour.  By  the  time  I  dragged  my  last  load  in, 
Nuflo  had  got  his  fire  well  alight,  and  was  heaping 
on  wood  in  a  most  lavish  way.  "  No  fear  of  burning 
our  house  down  to-night,"  he  remarked,  with  a 
chuckle — the  first  sound  of  that  description  he  had 
emitted  for  a  long  time. 

After  we  had  satisfied  our  hunger,  and  had  smoked 


GREEN  MANSIONS  247 

one  or  two  cigarettes,  the  unaccustomed  warmth,  and 
dryness,  and  the  firelight  affected  us  with  drowsiness, 
and  I  had  probably  been  nodding  for  some  time ;  but 
starting  at  last  and  opening  my  eyes,  I  missed  Rima. 
The  old  man  appeared  to  be  asleep,  although  still  in 
a  sitting  posture  close  to  the  fire.  I  rose  and  hur- 
ried, out,  drawing  my  cloak  close  around  me  to  pro- 
tect me  from  the  rain ;  but  what  was  my  surprise  on 
emerging  from  the  cave  to  feel  a  dry,  bracing  wind  in 
my  face  and  to  see  the  desert  spread  out  for  leagues 
before  me  in  the  brilliant  white  light  of  a  full  moon! 
The  rain  had  apparently  long  ceased,  and  only  a 
few  thin  white  clouds  appeared  moving  swiftly  over 
the  wide  blue  expanse  of  heaven.  It  was  a  welcome 
change,  but  the  shock  of  surprise  and  pleasure  was 
instantly  succeeded  by  the  maddening  fear  that  Rima 
was  lost  to  me.  She  was  nowhere  in  sight  beneath, 
and  running  to  the  end  of  the  little  plateau  to  get 
free  of  the  thorn  trees,  I  turned  my  eyes  towards  the 
summit,  and  there,  at  some  distance  above  me, 
caught  sight  of  her  standing  motionless  and  gazing 
upwards.  I  quickly  made  my  way  to  her  side,  call- 
ing to  her  as  I  approached ;  but  she  only  half  turned 
to  cast  a  look  at  me  and  did  not  repty. 

"  Rima,"  I  said,  "  why  have  you  come  here?  Are 
you  actually  thinking  of  climbing  the  mountain  at 
this  hour  of  the  night?  " 

"  Yes — why  not?  "  she  returned,  moving  one  or 
two  steps  from  me. 


248  GREEN  MANSIONS 

"  Rima — sweet  Rima,  will  you  listen  to  me  ?  " 

"Now?  Oh,  no — why  do  you  ask  that?  Did  I 
not  listen  to  you  in  the  wood  before  we  started,  and 
you  also  promised  to  do  what  I  wished?  See,  the 
rain  is  over  and  the  moon  shines  brightly.  Why 
should  I  wait?  Perhaps  from  the  summit  I  shall 
see  my  people's  country.     Are  we  not  near  it  now?  " 

"  Oh,  Rima,  what  do  you  expect  to  see?  Listen — 
you  must  listen,  for  I  know  best.  From  that  summit 
you  would  see  nothing  but  a  vast  dim  desert,  moun- 
tain and  forest,  mountain  and  forest,  where  you 
might  wander  for  years,  or  until  you  perished  of 
hunger,  or  fever,  or  were  slain  by  some  beast  of  prey 
or  by  savage  men ;  but  oh,  Rima,  never,  never,  never 
would  you  find  your  people,  for  they  exist  not.  You 
have  seen  the  false  water  of  the  mirage  on  the  savan- 
nah, when  the  sun  shines  bright  and  hot ;  and  if  one 
were  to  follow  it  he  would  at  last  fall  down  and  perish, 
with  never  a  cool  drop  to  moisten  his  parched  lips. 
And  your  hope,  Rima — this  hope  to  find  j^our  people 
which  has  brought  you  all  the  way  to  Riolama — is  a 
mirage,  a  delusion,  which  will  lead  to  destruction  if 
you  will  not  abandon  it." 

She  turned  to  face  me  with  flashing  eyes.  "  You 
know  best !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  You  know  best,  and 
tell  me  that !  Never  until  this  moment  have  you 
spoken  falsely.  Oh,  why  have  you  said  such  things 
to  me — named  after  this  place,  Riolama?  Am  I 
also  like  that  false  water  you  speak  of — no  divine 


GREEN  MANSIONS  249 

Rima,  no  sweet  Rima?  My  mother,  had  she  no 
mother,  no  mother's  mother?  I  remember  her,  at 
Voa,  before  she  died,  and  this  hand  seems  real — like 
yours ;  you  have  asked  to  hold  it.  But  it  is  not  he 
that  speaks  to  me — not  one  that  showed  me  the  whole 
world  on  Ytaioa.  Ah,  you  have  wrapped  yourself 
in  a  stolen  cloak,  only  you  have  left  your  old  grey 
beard  behind !  Go  back  to  the  cave  and  look  for  it, 
and  leave  me  to  seek  my  people  alone !  " 

Once  more,  as  on  that  day  in  the  forest  when  she 
prevented  me  from  killing  the  serpent,  and  as  on  the 
occasion  of  her  meeting  with  Nuflo  after  we  had  been 
together  on  Ytaioa,  she  appeared  transformed  and 
instinct  with  intense  resentment — a  beautiful  human 
wasp,  and  every  word  a  sting. 

"Rima,"  I  cried,  "you  are  cruelly  unjust  to  say 
such  words  to  me.  If  you  know  that  I  have  never 
deceived  you  before,  give  me  a  little  credit  now. 
You  are  no  delusion — no  mirage,  but  Rima,  like  no 
other  being  on  earth.  So  perfectly  truthful  and 
pure  I  cannot  be,  but  rather  than  mislead  you  with 
falsehoods  I  would  drop  down  and  die  on  this  rock, 
and  lose  you  and  the  sweet  light  that  shines  on  us  for 
ever." 

As  she  listened  to  my  words,  spoken  with  passion, 
she  grew  pale  and  clasped  her  hands :  "  What  have 
I  said?  What  have  I  said?  "  She  spoke  in  a  low 
voice  charged  with  pain,  and  all  at  once  she  came 
nearer,  and  with  a  low,  sobbing  cry  sank  down  at  my 


250  GREEN  MANSIONS 

feet,  uttering,  as  on  the  occasion  of  finding  me  lost 
at  night  in  the  forest  near  her  home,  tender,  sorrow- 
ful expressions  in  her  own  mysterious  language. 
But  before  I  could  take  her  in  my  arms  she  rose 
again  quickly  to  her  feet  and  moved  away  a  little 
space  from  me. 

"  Oh  no,  no,  it  cannot  be  that  you  know  best !  " 
she  began  again.  "  But  I  know  that  you  have  never 
sought  to  deceive  me.  And  now,  because  I  falsely 
accused  you  I  cannot  go  there  without  you  " — point- 
ing to  the  summit — "  but  must  stand  still  and  listen 
to  all  you  have  to  say." 

"  You  know,  Rima,  that  your  grandfather  has  now 
told  me  your  history — how  he  found  your  mother  at 
this  place,  and  took  her  to  Voa,  where  you  were  born ; 
but  of  your  mother's  people  he  knows  nothing,  and 
therefore  he  can  now  take  you  no  further." 

"  Ah,  you  think  that !  He  says  that  now ;  but  he 
deceived  me  all  these  years,  and  if  he  lied  to  me  in 
the  past,  can  he  not  still  lie,  affirming  that  he  knows 
nothing  of  my  people,  even  as  he  affirmed  that  he 
knew  not  Riolama?  " 

"  He  tells  lies  and  he  tells  truth,  Rima,  and  one 
can  be  distinguished  from  the  other.  He  spoke 
truthfully  at  last,  and  brought  us  to  this  place,  be- 
yond which  he  cannot  lead  you." 

"  You  are  right ;  I  must  go  alone." 

"  Not  so,  Rima,  for  where  you  go  there  we  must 
go ;  only  you  will  lead  and  we  follow,  believing  only 


GREEN  MANSIONS  251 

that  our  quest  will  end  in  disappointment,  if  not  in 
death." 

"  Believe  that  and  yet  follow !  Oh  no  !  Why  did 
he  consent  to  lead  me  so  far  for  nothing?  " 

"  Do  you  forget  that  you  compelled  him  ?  You 
know  what  he  believes ;  and  he  is  old  and  looks  with 
fear  at  death,  remembering  his  evil  deeds,  and  is 
convinced  that  only  through  your  intercession  and 
your  mother's,  he  can  escape  from  perdition.  Con- 
sider, Rima,  he  could  not  refuse,  to  make  you  more 
angry  and  so  deprive  himself  of  his  only  hope." 

My  words  seemed  to  trouble  her,  but  very  soon 
she  spoke  again  with  renewed  animation.  "  If  my 
people  exist,  why  must  it  be  disappointment  and 
perhaps  death?  He  does  not  know;  but  she  came 
to  him  here — did  she  not?  The  others  are  not  here, 
but  perhaps  not  far  off.  Come,  let  us  go  to  the  sum- 
mit together  to  see  from  it  the  desert  beneath  us — 
mountain  and  forest,  mountain  and  forest.  Some- 
where there !  You  said  that  I  had  knowledge  of  dis- 
tant things.  And  shall  I  not  know  which  moun- 
tain— which  forest  ?  " 

"  Alas !  no,  Rima ;  there  is  a  limit  to  your  far- 
seeing;  and  even  if  that  faculty  were  as  great  as 
you  imagine  it  would  avail  you  nothing,  for  there 
is  no  mountain,  no  forest,  in  whose  shadow  your 
people  dwell." 

For  a  while  she  was  silent,  but  her  eyes  and  clasp- 
ing fingers  were  restless  and  showed  her  agitation. 


252  GREEN  MANSIONS 

She  seemed  to  be  searching  in  the  depths  of  her  mind 
for  some  argument  to  oppose  to  my  assertions. 
Then  in  a  low,  almost  despondent  voice,  with  some- 
thing of  reproach  in  it,  she  said,  "  Have  we  come 
so  far  to  go  back  again?  You  were  not  Nuflo  to 
need  my  intercession,  yet  you  came  too." 

"  Where  you  are  there  I  must  be — you  have  said 
it  yourself.  Besides,  when  we  started  I  had  some 
hope  of  finding  your  people.  Now  I  know  better, 
having  heard  Nuflo's  story.  Now  I  know  that  your 
hope  is  a  vain  one." 

"  Why  ?  Why  ?  Was  she  not  found  here — 
mother?     Where,  then,  are  the  others?  " 

"  Yes,  she  was  found  here,  alone.  You  must  re- 
member all  the  things  she  spoke  to  you  before  she 
died.  Did  she  ever  speak  to  you  of  her  people — 
speak  of  them  as  if  they  existed,  and  would  be  glad 
to  receive  you  among  them  some  day?  '5 

"  No.  Why  did  she  not  speak  of  that?  Do  you 
know — can  you  tell  me?  " 

"  I  can  guess  the  reason,  Rima.  It  is  very  sad — 
so  sad  that  it  is  hard  to  tell  it.  When  Nuflo  tended 
her  in  the  cave  and  was  ready  to  worship  her  and 
do  everything  she  wished,  and  conversed  with  her 
by  signs,  she  showed  no  wish  to  return  to  her  people. 
And  when  he  offered  her,  in  a  way  she  understood, 
to  take  her  to  a  distant  place,  where  she  would  be 
among  strange  beings,  among  others  like  Nuflo,  she 


GREEN  MANSIONS  253 

readily  consented,  and  painfully  performed  that  long 
journey  to  Voa.  Would  you,  Rima,  have  acted 
thus — would  you  have  gone  so  far  away  from  your 
beloved  people,  never  to  return,  never  to  hear  of 
them  or  speak  to  them  again?  Oh  no,  you  could 
not;  nor  would  she,  if  her  people  had  been  in  exist- 
ence. But  she  knew  that  she  had  survived  them, 
that  some  great  calamity  had  fallen  upon  and  de- 
stroyed them.  They  were  few  in  number,  perhaps, 
and  surrounded  on  every  side  by  hostile  tribes,  and 
had  no  weapons,  and  made  no  war.  They  had  been 
preserved  because  they  inhabited  a  place  apart,  some 
deep  valley  perhaps,  guarded  on  all  sides  by  lofty 
mountains  and  impenetrable  forests  and  marshes; 
but  at  last  the  cruel  savages  broke  into  this  retreat 
and  hunted  them  down,  destroying  all  except  a  few 
fugitives,  who  escaped  singly  like  your  mother,  and 
fled  away  to  hide  in  some  distant  solitude.'* 

The  anxious  expression  on  her  face  deepened  as 
she  listened  to  one  of  anguish  and  despair ;  and  then, 
almost  before  I  concluded,  she  suddenly  lifted  her 
hands  to  her  head,  uttering  a  low,  sobbing  cry,  and 
would  have  fallen  on  the  rock  had  I  not  caught  her 
quickly  in  my  arms.  Once  more  in  my  arms 
— against  my  breast,  her  proper  place!  But  now 
all  that  bright  life  seemed  gone  out  of  her;  her  head 
fell  on  my  shoulder,  and  there  was  no  motion  in  her 
except   at  intervals   a   slight  shudder  in  her  frame 


254  GREEN  MANSIONS 

accompanied  by  a  low,  gasping  sob.  In  a  little  while 
the  sobs  ceased,  the  eyes  were  closed,  the  face  still 
and  deathly  white,  and  with  a  terrible  anxiety  in 
my  heart  I  carried  her  down  to  the  cave. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

AS  I  re-entered  the  cave  with  my  burden  Nuflo 
sat  up  and  stared  at  me  with  a  frightened  look 
in  his  eyes.  Throwing  my  cloak  down  I  placed  the 
girl  on  it  and  briefly  related  what  had  happened. 

He  drew  near  to  examine  her ;  then  placed  his  hand 
on  her  heart.     "  Dead ! — she  is  dead !  "  he  exclaimed. 

My  own  anxiety  changed  to  an  irrational  anger 
at  his  words.  "  Old  fool !  She  has  only  fainted," 
I  returned.     "  Get  me  some  water,  quick." 

But  the  water  failed  to  restore  her,  and  my 
anxiety  deepened  as  I  gazed  on  that  white,  still  face. 
Oh,  why  had  I  told  her  that  sad  tragedy  I  had 
imagined  with  so  little  preparation?  Alas!  I  had 
succeeded  too  well  in  my  purpose,  killing  her  vain 
hope  and  her  at  the  same  moment. 

The  old  man,  still  bending  over  her,  spoke  again. 
"  No,  I  will  not  believe  that  she  is  dead  yet ;  but,  sir, 
if  not  dead,  then  she  is  dying." 

I  could  have  struck  him  down  for  his  words. 
"  She  will  die  in  my  arms,  then,"  I  exclaimed,  thrust- 
ing him  roughly  aside,  and  lifting  her  up  with  the 
cloak  beneath  her. 

And  while  I  held  her  thus,  her  head  resting  on  my 

arm,  and  gazed  with  unutterable  anguish  into  her 

255 


256  GREEN  MANSIONS 

strangely  white  face,  insanely  praying  to  Heaven  to 
restore  her  to  me,  Nuflo  fell  on  his  knees  before  her, 
and  with  bowed  head,  and  hands  clasped  in  suppli- 
cation, began  to  speak. 

"  Rima !  Grandchild !  "  he  prayed,  his  quivering 
voice  betraying  his  agitation.  "  Do  not  die  just 
yet:  you  must  not  die— not  wholly  die — until  you 
have  heard  what  I  have  to  say  to  you.  I  do  not  ask 
you  to  answer  in  words — you  are  past  that,  and  I 
am  not  unreasonable.  Only,  when  I  finish,  make 
some  sign — a  sigh,  a  movement  of  the  eyelid,  a  twitch 
of  the  lips,  even  in  the  small  corners  of  the  mouth; 
nothing  more  than  that,  just  to  show  that  you  have 
heard,  and  I  shall  be  satisfied.  Remember  all  the 
years  that  I  have  been  your  protector,  and  this  long 
journey  that  I  have  taken  on  your  account;  also 
all  that  I  did  for  your  sainted  mother  before  she 
died  at  Voa,  to  become  one  of  the  most  important  of 
those  who  surround  the  Queen  of  Heaven,  and  who, 
when  they  wish  for  any  favour,  have  only  to  say  half 
a  word  to  get  it.  And  do  not  cast  in  oblivion  that 
at  the  last  I  obeyed  your  wish  and  brought  you 
safely  to  Riolama.  It  is  true  that  in  some  small 
things  I  deceived  you ;  but  that  must  not  weigh  with 
you,  because  it  is  a  small  matter  and  not  worthy  of 
mention  when  you  consider  the  claims  I  have  on  you. 
In  your  hands,  Rima,  I  leave  everything,  relying  on 
the  promise  you  made  me,  and  on  my  services.  Only 
one  word  of  caution  remains  to  be  added.     Do  not 


GREEN  MANSIONS  257 

let  the  magnificence  of  the  place  you  are  now  about 
to  enter,  the  new  sights  and  colours,  and  the  noise 
of  shouting,  and  musical  instruments  and  blowing  of 
trumpets,  put  these  things  out  of  your  head-  Nor 
must  you  begin  to  think  meanly  of  yourself  and  be 
abashed  when  you  find  yourself  surrounded  by  saints 
and  angels ;  for  you  are  not  less  than  they,  although 
it  may  not  seem  so  at  first  when  you  see  them  in  their 
bright  clothes,  which,  they  say,  shine  like  the  sun. 
I  cannot  ask  you  to  tie  a  string  round  your  finger: 
I  can  only  trust  to  your  memory,  which  was  always 
good,  even  about  the  smallest  things ;  and  when  you 
are  asked,  as  no  doubt  you  will  be,  to  express  a 
wish,  remember  before  everything  to  speak  of  your 
grandfather,  and  his  claims  on  you,  also  on  your 
angelic  mother,  to  whom  you  will  present  my  humble 
remembrances." 

During  this  petition,  which  in  other  circumstances 
would  have  moved  me  to  laughter  but  now  only  irri- 
tated me,  a  subtle  change  seemed  to  come  to  the  ap- 
parently lifeless  girl  to  make  me  hope.  The  small 
hand  in  mine  felt  not  so  icy  cold,  and  though  no 
faintest  colour  had  come  to  the  face,  its  pallor  had 
lost  something  of  its  deathly  waxen  appearance ;  and 
now  the  compressed  lips  had  relaxed  a  little  and 
seemed  ready  to  part.  I  laid  my  finger-tips  on  her 
heart  and  felt,  or  imagined  that  I  felt,  a  faint  flut- 
tering; and  at  last  I  became  convinced  that  her 
heart  was  really  beating. 


258  GREEN  MANSIONS 

I  turned  my  eyes  on  the  old  man,  still  bending 
forward,  intently  watching  for  the  sign  he  had  asked 
her  to  make.  My  anger  and  disgust  at  his  gross 
earthy  egoism  had  vanished.  "  Let  us  thank  God, 
old  man,"  I  said,  the  tears  of  joy  half  choking  my 
utterance.  "  She  lives — she  is  recovering  from  her 
fit." 

He  drew  back,  and  on  his  knees,  with  bowed  head, 
murmured  a  prayer   of  thanks  to  Heaven. 

Together  we  continued  watching  her  face  for  half 
an  hour  longer,  I  still  holding  her  in  my  arms,  which 
could  never  grow  weary  of  that  sweet  burden,  waiting 
for  other,  surer  signs  of  returning  life ;  and  she 
seemed  now  like  one  that  had  fallen  into  a  profound, 
death-like  sleep  which  must  end  in  death.  Yet  when 
I  remembered  her  face  as  it  had  looked  an  hour  ago, 
I  was  confirmed  in  the  belief  that  the  progress  to 
recovery,  so  strangely  slow,  was  yet  sure.  So  slow, 
so  gradual  was  this  passing  from  death  to  life  that 
we  had  hardly  ceased  to  fear  when  we  noticed  that 
the  lips  were  parted,  or  almost  parted,  that  they  were 
no  longer  white,  and  that  under  her  pale,  transparent 
skin  a  faint,  bluish-rosy  colour  was  now  visible. 
And  at  length,  seeing  that  all  danger  was  past  and 
recovery  so  slow,  old  Nuflo  withdrew  once  more  to 
the  fireside,  and  stretching  himself  out  on  the  sandy 
floor,  soon  fell  into  a  deep  sleep. 

If  he  had  not  been  lying  there  before  me  in  the 
strong   light    of    the    glowing    embers    and    dancing 


GREEN  MANSIONS  259 

flames,  I  could  not  have  felt  more  alone  with  Rima — 
alone  amid  those  remote  mountains,  in  that  secret 
cavern,  with  lights  and  shadows  dancing  on  its  grey 
vault.  In  that  profound  silence  and  solitude  the 
mysterious  loveliness  of  the  still  face  I  continued  to 
gaze  on,  its  appearance  of  life  without  consciousness, 
produced  a  strange  feeling  in  me,  hard,  perhaps 
impossible,  to  describe. 

Once,  when  clambering  among  the  rough  rocks, 
overgrown  with  forest,  among  the  Queneveta  moun- 
tains, I  came  on  a  single  white  flower  which  was  new 
to  me,  which  I  have  never  seen  since.  After  I  had 
looked  long  at  it,  and  passed  on,  the  image  of  that 
perfect  flower  remained  so  persistently  in  my  mind 
that  on  the  following  day  I  went  again,  in  the  hope 
of  seeing  it  still  untouched  by  decay.  There  was  no 
change ;  and  on  this  occasion  I  spent  a  much  longer 
time  looking  at  it,  admiring  the  marvellous  beauty 
of  its  form,  which  seemed  so  greatly  to  exceed  that 
of  all  other  flowers.  It  had  thick  petals,  and  at 
first  gave  me  the  idea  of  an  artificial  flower,  cut 
by  a  divinely  inspired  artist  from  some  unknown 
precious  stone,  of  the  size  of  a  large  orange  and 
whiter  than  milk,  and  yet,  in  spite  of  its  opacity, 
with  a  crystalline  lustre  on  the  surface.  Next  day 
I  went  again,  scarcely  hoping  to  find  it  still  un- 
withered;  it  was  fresh  as  if  only  just  opened;  and 
after  that  I  went  often,  sometimes  at  intervals  of 
several  days,  and  still  no  faintest  sign  of  any  change, 


260  GREEN  MANSIONS 

the  clear,  exquisite  lines  still  undimmed,  the  purity 
and  lustre  as  I  had  first  seen  it.  Why,  I  often  asked, 
does  not  this  mystic  forest  flower  fade  and  perish 
like  others?  That  first  impression  of  its  artificial 
appearance  had  soon  left  me ;  it  was,  indeed,  a  flower, 
and,  like  other  flowers,  had  life  and  growth,  only 
with  that  transcendent  beauty  it  had  a  different  kind 
of  life.  Unconscious,  but  higher;  perhaps  immortal. 
Thus  it  would  continue  to  bloom  when  I  had  looked 
my  last  on  it ;  wind  and  rain  and  sunlight  would 
never  stain,  never  tinge,  its  sacred  purity  ;  the  savage 
Indian,  though  he  sees  little  to  admire  in  a  flower, 
yet  seeing  this  one  would  veil  his  face  and  turn  back ; 
even  the  browsing  beast  crashing  his  way  through 
the  forest,  struck  with  its  strange  glory,  would 
swerve  aside  and  pass  on  without  harming  it. 
Afterwards  I  heard  from  some  Indians,  to  whom  I 
described  it,  that  the  flower  I  had  discovered  was 
called  Hata;  also  that  they  had  a  superstition  con- 
cerning it — a  strange  belief.  They  said  that  only 
one  Hata  flower  existed  in  the  world ;  that  it  bloomed 
in  one  spot  for  the  space  of  a  moon;  that  on  the 
disappearance  of  the  moon  in  the  sky  the  Hata  dis- 
appeared from  its  place,  only  to  reappear  blooming 
in  some  other  spot,  sometimes  in  some  distant  forest. 
And  they  also  said  that  whosoever  discovered  the 
Hata  flower  in  the  forest  would  overcome  all  his 
enemies  and  obtain  all  his  desires,  and  finally  outlive 
other  men  by  many  years.     But,  as  I  have  said,  all 


GREEN  MANSIONS  261 

this  I  heard  afterwards,  and  my  half-superstitious 
feeling  for  the  flower  had  grown  up  independently  in 
my  own  mind.  A  feeling  like  that  was  in  me  while 
I  gazed  on  the  face  that  had  no  motion,  no  con- 
sciousness in  it,  and  yet  had  life,  a  life  of  so  high 
a  kind  as  to  match  with  its  pure,  surpassing  love- 
liness. I  could  almost  believe  that,  like  the  forest 
flower,  in  this  state  and  aspect  it  would  endure  for 
ever ;  endure  and  perhaps  give  of  its  own  immortality 
to  everything  around  it — to  me,  holding  her  in  my 
arms  and  gazing  fixedly  on  the  pale  face  framed  in 
its  cloud  of  dark,  silken  hair;  to  the  leaping  flames 
that  threw  changing  lights  on  the  dim  stony  wall  of 
rock;  to  old  Nuflo  and  his  two  yellow  dogs  stretched 
out  on  the  floor  in  eternal,  unawakening  sleep. 

This  feeling  took  such  firm  possession  of  my  mind 
that  it  kept  me  for  a  time  as  motionless  as  the  form 
I  held  in  my  arms.  I  was  only  released  from  its 
power  by  noting  still  further  changes  in  the  face  I 
watched,  a  more  distinct  advance  towards  conscious 
life.  The  faint  colour,  which  had  scarcely  been  more 
than  a  suspicion  of  colour,  had  deepened  percep- 
tibly ;  the  lids  were  lifted  so  as  to  show  a  gleam  of  the 
crystal  orbs  beneath;  the  lips,  too,  were  slightly 
parted. 

And,  at  last,  bending  lower  down  to  feel  her  breath, 
the  beauty  and  sweetness  of  those  lips  could  no  longer 
be  resisted,  and  I  touched  them  with  mine.  Having 
once   tasted  their   sweetness   and  fragrance,  it  was 


262  GREEN  MANSIONS 

impossible  to  keep  from  touching  them  again  and 
again.  She  was  not  conscious — how  could  she  be 
and  not  shrink  from  my  caress?  Yet  there  was  a 
suspicion  in  my  mind,  and  drawing  back  I  gazed  into 
her  face  once  more.  A  strange  new  radiance  had 
overspread  it.  Or  was  this  only  an  illusive  colour 
thrown  on  her  skin  by  the  red  firelight?  I  shaded 
her  face  with  my  open  hand,  and  saw  that  her  pallor 
had  really  gone,  that  the  rosy  flame  on  her  cheeks 
was  part  of  her  life.  Her  lustrous  eyes,  half  open, 
were  gazing  into  mine.  Oh,  surely  consciousness  had 
returned  to  her!  Had  she  been  sensible  of  those 
stolen  kisses?  Would  she  now  shrink  from  another 
caress?  Trembling  I  bent  down  and  touched  her 
lips  again,  lightly,  but  lingeringly,  and  then  again, 
and  when  I  drew  back  and  looked  at  her  face  the 
rosy  flame  was  brighter,  and  the  eyes,  more  open 
still,  were  looking  into  mine.  And  gazing  with  those 
open,  conscious  eyes,  it  seemed  to  me  that  at  last,  at 
last,  the  shadow  that  had  rested  between  us  had 
vanished,  that  we  were  united  in  perfect  love  and 
confidence,  and  that  speech  was  superfluous.  And 
when  I  spoke  it  was  not  without  doubt  and  hesita- 
tion: our  bliss  in  those  silent  moments  had  been  so 
complete,  what  could  speaking  do  but  make  it  less ! 
"  My  love,  my  life,  my  sweet  Rima,  I  know  that 
you  will  understand  me  now  as  you  did  not  before, 
on  that  dark  night — do  you  remember  it,  Rima? — 
when  I  held  you  clasped  to  my  breast  in  the  wood. 


GREEN  MANSIONS  263 

How  it  pierced  my  heart  with  pain  to  speak  plainly 
to  you  as  I  did  on  the  mountain  to-night — to  kill  the 
hope  that  had  sustained  and  brought  you  so  far  from 
home !  But  now  that  anguish  is  over ;  the  shadow 
has  gone  out  of  those  beautiful  eyes  that  are  looking 
at  me.  It  is  because  loving  me,  knowing  now  what 
love  is,  knowing,  too,  how  much  I  love  you,  that  you 
no  longer  need  to  speak  to  any  other  living  being  of 
such  things?  To  tell  it,  to  show  it,  to  me  is  now 
enough — is  it  not  so,  Rima?  How  strange  it 
seemed,  at  first,  when  you  shrank  in  fear  from  me ! 
But,  afterwards,  when  you  prayed  aloud  to  your 
mother,  opening  all  the  secrets  of  your  heart,  I 
understood  it.  In  that  lonely,  isolated  life  in  the 
wood  you  had  heard  nothing  of  love,  of  its  power 
over  the  heart,  its  infinite  sweetness ;  when  it  came  to 
you  at  last  it  was  a  new,  inexplicable  thing,  and  filled 
you  with  misgivings  and  tumultuous  thoughts,  so  that 
you  feared  it  and  hid  yourself  from  its  cause.  Such 
tremors  would  be  felt  if  it  had  always  been  night, 
with  no  light  except  that  of  the  stars  and  the  pale 
moon,  .°s  we  saw  it  a  little  while  ago  on  the  moun- 
tain; and,  at  last,  day  dawned,  and  a  strange,  un- 
heard-of rose  and  purple  flame  kindled  in  the  eastern 
sky,  foretelling  the  coming  sun.  It  would  seem 
beautiful  beyond  anything  that  night  had  shown  to 
you,  yet  you  would  tremble,  and  your  heart  beat  fast 
at  that  strange  sight ;  you  would  wish  to  fly  to  those 
who    might    be    able    to    tell   you   its    meaning,    and 


264  GREEN  MANSIONS 

whether  the  sweet  things  it  prophesied  would  ever 
really  come.  That  is  why  you  wished  to  find  your 
people,  and  came  to  Riolama  to  seek  them :  and  when 
you  knew — when  I  cruelly  told  you — that  they  would 
never  be  found,  then  you  imagined  that  that  strange 
feeling  in  your  heart  must  remain  a  secret  for  ever> 
and  you  could  not  endure  the  thought  of  your  lone- 
liness. If  you  had  not  fainted  so  quickly,  then  I 
should  have  told  you  what  I  must  tell  you  now. 
They  are  lost,  Rima — your  people — but  I  am  with 
you,  and  know  what  you  feel,  even  if  you  have  no 
words  to  tell  it.  But  what  need  of  words  ?  It  shines 
in  your  eyes,  it  burns  like  a  flame  in  your  face ;  I 
can  feel  it  in  your  hands.  Do  you  not  also  see  it  in 
my  face — all  that  I  feel  for  you,  the  love  that  makes 
me  happy?  For  this  is  love,  Rima,  the  flower  and 
the  melody  of  life,  the  sweetest  thing,  the  sweet 
miracle  that  makes  our  two  souls  one." 

Still  resting  in  my  arms,  as  if  glad  to  rest  there, 
still  gazing  into  my  face,  it  was  clear  to  me  that  she 
understood  my  every  word.  And  then,  with  no  trace 
of  doubt  or  fear  left,  I  stooped  again,  until  my  lips 
were  on  hers;  and  when  I  drew  back  once  more, 
hardly  knowing  which  bliss  was  greatest — kissing 
her  delicate  mouth  or  gazing  into  her  face — she  all 
at  once  put  her  arms  about  my  neck  and  drew  herself 
up  until  she  sat  on  my  knee. 

"  Abel — shall  I  call  you  Abel  now — and  always  ?  " 
she  spoke,  still  with  her  arms  round  my  neck.     "  Ah, 


GREEN  MANSIONS  265 

why  did  you  let  me  come  to  Riolama  ?  I  would  come ! 
I  made  him  come — old  grandfather,  sleeping  there: 
he  does  not  count,  but  you — you !  After  you  had 
heard  my  story,  and  knew  that  it  was  all  for  nothing ! 
And  all  I  wished  to  know  was  there — in  you.  Oh, 
how  sweet  it  is !  But  a  little  while  ago,  what  pain ! 
When  I  stood  on  the  mountain  when  you  talked  to 
me,  and  I  knew  that  you  knew  best,  and  tried  and 
tried  not  to  know.  At  last  I  could  try  no  more; 
they  were  all  dead  like  mother;  I  had  chased  the 
false  water  on  the  savannah.  *  Oh,  let  me  die  too,' 
I  said,  for  I  could  not  bear  the  pain.  And  after- 
wards, here  in  the  cave,  I  was  like  one  asleep,  and 
when  I  woke  I  did  not  really  wake.  It  was  like 
morning  with  the  light  teasing  me  to  open  my  eyes 
and  look  at  it.  Not  yet,  dear  light;  a  little  while 
longer,  it  is  so  sweet  to  lie  still.  But  it  would  not 
leave  me,  and  stayed  teasing  me  still,  like  a  small 
shining  green  fly;  until,  because  it  teased  me  so,  I 
opened  my  lids  just  a  little.  It  was  not  morning, 
but  the  firelight,  and  I  was  in  your  arms,  not  in  my 
little  bed.  Your  eyes  looking,  looking  into  mine. 
But  I  could  see  yours  better.  I  remembered  every- 
thing then,  how  you  once  asked  me  to  look  into  your 
eyes.  I  remembered  so  many  things — oh,  so  many !  " 
"  How  many  things  did  you  remember,  Rima  ?  " 
"  Listen,  Abel,  do  you  ever  lie  on  the  dry  moss  and 
look  straight  up  into  a  tree  and  count  a  thousand 
leaves  ?  " 


266  GREEN  MANSIONS 

"  No,  sweetest,  that  could  not  be  done,  it  is  so 
many  to  count.  Do  you  know  how  many  a  thousand 
are?" 

"  Oh,  do  I  not !  When  a  humming-bird  flies  close 
to  my  face  and  stops  still  in  the  air,  humming  like 
a  bee,  and  then  is  gone,  in  that  short  time  I  can  count 
a  hundred  small  round  bright  feathers  on  its  throat. 
That  is  only  a  hundred ;  a  thousand  are  more,  ten 
times.  Looking  up  I  count  a  thousand  leaves ;  then 
stop  counting,  because  there  are  thousands  more  be- 
hind the  first,  and  thousands  more,  crowded  together 
so  that  I  cannot  count  them.  Lying  in  your  arms, 
looking  up  into  your  face,  it  was  like  that ;  I  could 
not  count  the  things  I  remembered.  In  the  wood, 
when  you  were  there,  and  before ;  and  long,  long  ago 
at  Voa,  when  I  was  a  child  with  mother.  " 

"  Tell  me  some  of  the  things  you  remembered, 
Rima." 

"  Yes,  one — only  one  now.  When  I  was  a  child  at 
Voa  mother  was  very  lame — you  know  that.  When- 
ever we  went  out,  away  from  the  houses,  into  the 
forest,  walking  slowly,  slowly,  she  would  sit  under 
a  tree  while  I  ran  about  playing.  And  every  time 
I  came  back  to  her  I  would  find  her  so  pale,  so  sad, 
crying — crying.  That  was  when  I  would  hide  and 
come  softly  back  so  that  she  would  not  hear  me  com- 
ing. '  Oh,  mother,  why  are  you  crying?  Does  your 
lame  foot  hurt  you?  '  And  one  day  she  took  me  in 
her  arms  and  told  me  truly  why  she  cried.  " 


GREEN  MANSIONS  267 

She  ceased  speaking,  but  looked  at  me  with  a 
strange  new  light  coming  into  her  eyes. 

"  Why  did  she  cry,  my  love?  " 

"  Oh,  Abel,  can  you  understand — now — at  last !  " 
And  putting  her  lips  close  to  my  ear,  she  began  to 
murmur  soft,  melodious  sounds  that  told  me  nothing. 
Then  drawing  back  her  head,  she  looked  again  at 
me,  her  eyes  glistening  with  tears,  her  lips  half 
parted  with  a  smile,  tender  and  wistful. 

Ah,  poor  child!  in  spite  of  all  that  had  been  said, 
all  that  had  happened,  she  had  returned  to  the  old 
delusion  that  I  must  understand  her  speech.  I  could 
only  return  her  look,  sorrowfully  and  in  silence. 

Her  face  became  clouded  with  disappointment, 
then  she  spoke  again  with  something  of  pleading  in 
her  tone.  "  Look,  we  are  not  now  apart,  I  hiding 
in  the  wood,  you  seeking,  but  together,  saying  the 
same  things.  In  your  language — yours  and  now 
mine.  But  before  you  came  I  knew  nothing,  nothing, 
for  there  was  only  grandfather  to  talk  to.  A  few 
words  each  day,  the  same  words.  If  yours  is  mine, 
mine  must  be  yours.  Oh,  do  you  not  know  that  mine 
is  better?  " 

"  Yes,  better ;  but  alas !  Rima,  I  can  never  hope 
to  understand  your  sweet  speech,  much  less  to  speak 
it.  The  bird  that  only  chirps  and  twitters  can  never 
sing  like  the  organ-bird." 

Crying,  she  hid  her  face  against  my  neck,  mur- 
muring sadly  between  her  sobs,  "  Never — never !  " 


268  GREEN  MANSIONS 

How  strange  it  seemed,  in  that  moment  of  joy, 
such  a  passion  of  tears,  such  despondent  words ! 

For  some  minutes  I  preserved  a  sorrowful  silence, 
realising  for  the  first  time,  so  far  as  it  was  possible 
to  realise  such  a  thing,  what  my  inability  to  under- 
stand her  secret  language  meant  to  her — that  finer 
language  in  which  alone  her  swift  thoughts  and  vivid 
emotions  could  be  expressed.  Easily  and  well  as 
she  seemed  able  to  declare  herself  in  my  tongue,  I 
could  well  imagine  that  to  her  it  would  seem  like  the 
merest  stammering.  As  she  had  said  to  me  once 
when  I  asked  her  to  speak  in  Spanish,  "  That  is  not 
speaking."  And  so  long  as  she  could  not  commune 
with  me  in  that  better  language,  which  reflected  her 
mind,  there  would  not  be  that  perfect  union  of  soul 
she  so  passionately  desired. 

By-and-by,  as  she  grew  calmer,  I  sought  to  say 
something  that  would  be  consoling  to  both  of  us. 
"  Sweetest  Rima,"  I  spoke,  "  it  is  so  sad  that  I  can 
never  hope  to  talk  with  you  in  your  way ;  but  a 
greater  love  than  this  that  is  ours  we  could  never  feel, 
and  love  will  make  us  happy,  unutterably  happy,  in 
spite  of  that  one  sadness.  And  perhaps,  after  a 
while,  you  will  be  able  to  say  all  you  wish  in  my 
language,  which  is  also  yours,  as  you  said  some  time 
ago.  When  we  are  back  again  in  the  beloved  wood, 
and  talk  once  more  under  that  tree  where  we  first 
talked,  and  under  the  old  mora,  where  you  hid  your- 
self and  threw  down  leaves  on  me,  and  where  you 


GREEN  MANSIONS  269 

caught  the  little  spider  to  show  me  how  you  made 
yourself  a  dress,  you  shall  speak  to  me  in  your  own 
sweet  tongue,  and  then  try  to  say  the  same  things  in 
mine.  .  .  .  And  in  the  end,  perhaps,  you  will  find 
that  it  is  not  so  impossible  as  you  think." 

She  looked  at  me,  smiling  again  through  her  tears, 
and  shook  her  head  a  little. 

"  Remember  what  I  have  heard,  that  before  your 
mother  died  you  were  able  to  tell  Nuflo  and  the  priest 
what  her  wish  was.  Can  you  not,  in  the  same  way, 
tell  me  why  she  cried?  " 

"  I  can  tell  you,  but  it  will  not  be  telling  you." 

"  I  understand.  You  can  tell  the  bare  facts.  I 
can  imagine  something  more,  and  the  rest  I  must 
lose.     Tell  me,  Rima." 

Her  face  became  troubled ;  she  glanced  away  and 
let  her  eyes  wander  round  the  dim,  firelit  cavern; 
then  they  returned  to  mine  once  more. 

"  Look,"  she  said,  "  grandfather  lying  asleep  by 
the  fire.  So  far  away  from  us — oh,  so  far !  But  if 
we  were  to  go  out  from  the  cave,  and  on  and  on  to 
the  great  mountains  where  the  city  of  the  sun  is, 
and  stood  there  at  last  in  the  midst  of  great  crowds 
of  people,  all  looking  at  us,  talking  to  us,  it  would 
be  just  the  same.  They  would  be  like  the  trees  and 
rocks  and  animals — so  far !  Not  with  us  nor  we  with 
them.  But  we  are  everywhere  alone  together,  apart 
— we  two.  It  is  love ;  I  know  it  now,  but  I  did  not 
know   it  before  because  I  had   forgotten  what   she 


270  GREEN  MANSIONS 

told  me.  Do  you  think  I  can  tell  you  what  she  said 
when  I  asked  her  why  she  cried  ?  Oh  no  !  Only  this, 
she  and  another  were  like  one,  always,  apart  from  the 
others.     Then     something    came — something    came ! 

0  Abel,  was  that  the  something  you  told  me  about 
on  the  mountain?  And  the  other  was  lost  for  ever, 
and  she  was  alone  in  the  forests  and  mountains  of 
the  world.  Oh,  why  do  we  cry  for  what  is  lost? 
Why  do  we  not  quickly  forget  it  and  feel  glad  again? 
Now  only  do  I  know  what  you  felt,  O  sweet  mother, 
when  you  sat  still  and  cried,  while  I  ran  about  and 
played  and  laughed !  O  poor  mother !  Oh,  what 
pain !  "  And  hiding  her  face  against  my  neck,  she 
sobbed  once  more. 

To  my  eyes  also  love  and  sympathy  brought  the 
tears ;  but  in  a  little  while  the  fond,  comforting  words 

1  spoke  and  my  caresses  recalled  her  from  that  sad 
past  to  the  present ;  then,  lying  back  as  at  first,  her 
head  resting  on  my  folded  cloak,  her  body  partly 
supported  by  my  encircling  arm  and  partly  by  the 
rock  we  were  leaning  against,  her  half-closed  eyes 
turned  to  mine  expressed  a  tender  assured  happiness 
— the  chastened  gladness  of  sunshine  after  rain ;  a 
soft  delicious  languor  that  was  partly  passionate 
with  the  passion  etherealised. 

"  Tell  me,  Rima,"  I  said,  bending  down  to  her,  "  in 
all  those  troubled  days  with  me  in  the  woods  had  you 
no    happy   moments?     Did   not    something   in   your 


GREEN  MANSIONS  271 

heart  tell  you  that  it  was  sweet  to  love,  even  before 
you  knew  what  love  meant  ?  " 

"  Yes ;  and  once — 0  Abel,  do  you  remember  that 
night,  after  returning  from  Ytaioa,  when  you  sat  so 
late  talking  by  the  fire — I  in  the  shadow,  never 
stirring,  listening,  listening ;  you  by  the  fire  with  the 
light  on  your  face,  saying  so  many  strange  things? 
I  was  happy  then — oh,  how  happy !  It  was  black 
night  and  raining,  and  I  a  plant  growing  in  the  dark, 
feeling  the  sweet  rain-drops  falling,  falling  on  my 
leaves.  Oh,  it  will  be  morning  by-and-by  and  the 
sun  will  shine  on  my  wet  leaves ;  and  that  made  me 
glad  till  I  trembled  with  happiness.  Then  suddenly 
the  lightning  would  come,  so  bright,  and  I  would 
tremble  with  fear,  and  wish  that  it  would  be  dark 
again.  That  was  when  you  looked  at  me  sitting  in 
the  shadow,  and  I  could  not  take  my  eyes  away 
quickly  and  could  not  meet  yours,  so  that  I  trembled 
with  fear." 

"  And  now  there  is  no  fear — no  shadow ;  now  you 
are  perfectly  happy  ?  " 

"  Oh,  so  happy  !  If  the  way  back  to  the  wood  was 
longer,  ten  times,  and  if  the  great  mountains,  white 
with  snow  on  their  tops,  were  between,  and  the  great 
dark  forest,  and  rivers  wider  than  Orinoco,  still  I 
would  go  alone  without  fear,  because  you  would  come 
after  me,  to  join  me  in  the  wo^d,  to  be  with  me  at 
last  and  always." 


272  GREEN  MANSIONS 

"  But  I  should  not  let  you  go  alone,  Rima — your 
lonely  days  are  over  now." 

She  opened  her  eyes  wider,  and  looted  earnestly 
into  my  face.  "  I  must  go  back  alone,  Abel,"  she 
said.  "  Before  day  comes  I  must  leave  you.  Rest 
here,  with  grandfather,  for  a  few  days  and  nights, 
then  follow  me." 

I  heard  her  with  astonishment.  "  It  must  not  be, 
Rima,"  I  cried.  "  What,  let  you  leave  me — now 
you  are  mine — to  go  all  that  distance,  through  all 
that  wild  country  where  you  might  lose  yourself  and 
perish  alone  ?     Oh,  do  not  think  of  it !  " 

She  listened,  regarding  me  with  some  slight  trouble 
in  her  eyes,  but  smiling  a  little  at  the  same  time. 
Her  small  hand  moved  up  my  arm  and  caressed  my 
cheek ;  then  she  drew  my  face  down  to  hers  until  our 
lips  met.  But  when  I  looked  at  her  eyes  again  I 
saw  that  she  had  not  consented  to  my  wish.  "  Do 
I  not  know  all  the  way  now,"  she  spoke,  "  all  the 
mountains,  rivers,  forests — how  should  I  lose  my- 
self? And  I  must  return  quickly,  not  step  by  step, 
walking — resting,  resting — walking,  stopping  to 
cook  and  eat,  stopping  to  gather  firewood,  to  make 
a  shelter — so  many  things !  Oh,  I  shall  be  back  in 
half  the  time ;  and  I  have  so  much  to  do." 

"  What  can  you  have  to  do,  love  ? — everything  can 
be  done  when  we  are  in  the  wood  together." 

A  bright  smile  with  a  touch  of  mockery  in  it  flitted 
over  her  face  as  she  replied,  "  Oh,  must  I  tell  you 


GREEN  MANSIONS  273 

that  there  are  things  you  cannot  do?  Look,  Abel," 
and  she  touched  the  slight  garment  she  wore,  thinner 
now  than  at  first,  and  dulled  by  long  exposure  to  sun 
and  wind  and  rain. 

I  could  not  command  her,  and  seemed  powerless 
to  persuade  her;  but  I  had  not  done  yet,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  use  every  argument  I  could  find  to  bring 
her  round  to  my  view;  and  when  I  finished  she  put 
her  arms  around  my  neck  and  drew  herself  up  once 
more.  "  O  Abel,  how  happy  I  shall  be !  "  she  said, 
taking  no  notice  of  all  I  had  said.  "  Think  of  me 
alone,  days  and  days,  in  the  wood,  waiting  for  you, 
working  all  the  time ;  saying,  i  Come  quickly,  Abel ; 
come  slow,  Abel.  O  Abel,  how  long  you  are!  Oh, 
do  not  come  until  my  work  is  finished ! '  And  when 
it  is  finished  and  you  arrive  you  shall  find  me,  but 
not  at  once.  First  you  will  seek  for  me  in  the  house, 
then  in  the  wood,  calling,  '  Rima !  Rima ! '  And  she 
will  be  there,  listening,  hid  in  the  trees,  wishing  to  be 
in  your  arms,  wishing  for  your  lips — oh,  so  glad, 
yet  fearing  to  show  herself.  Do  you  know  why? 
He  told  you — did  he  not? — that  when  he  first  saw 
her  she  was  standing  before  him,  all  in  white — a  dress 
that  was  like  snow  on  the  mountain-tops,  when  the 
sun  is  setting  and  gives  it  rose  and  purple  colour. 
I  shall  be  like  that,  hidden  among  the  trees,  saying, 
'  Am  I  different — not  like  Rima  ?  Will  he  know  me 
— will  he  love  me  just  the  same?  '  Oh,  do  I  not  know 
that  you  will  be  glad,  and  love  me,  and  call  me  beau- 


274  GREEN  MANSIONS 

tif ul  ?  Listen !  Listen !  "  she  suddenly  exclaimed, 
lifting  her  face. 

Among  the  bushes  not  far  from  the  cave's  mouth  a 
small  bird  had  broken  out  in  song,  a  clear,  tender 
melody  soon  taken  up  by  other  birds  further  away. 

"  It  will  soon  be  morning,"  she  said,  and  then 
clasped  her  arms  about  me  once  more  and  held  me 
in  a  long,  passionate  embrace ;  then  slipping  away 
from  my  arms  and  with  one  swift  glance  at  the  sleep- 
ing old  man,  passed  out  of  the  cave. 

For  a  few  moments  I  remained  sitting,  not  yet 
realising  that  she  had  left  me,  so  suddenly  and 
swiftly  had  she  passed  from  my  arms  and  my  sight ; 
then,  recovering  my  faculties,  I  started  up  and 
rushed  out  in  hopes  of  overtaking  her. 

It  was  not  yet  dawn,  but  there  was  still  some  light 
from  the  full  moon,  now  somewhere  behind  the  moun- 
tains. Running  to  the  verge  of  the  bush-grown 
plateau,  I  explored  the  rocky  slope  beneath  without 
seeing  her  form,  and  then  called,  "  Rima !  Rima !  " 

A  soft,  warbling  sound,  uttered  by  no  bird,  came 
up  from  the  shadowy  bushes  far  below ;  and  in  that 
direction  I  ran  on ;  then  pausing  called  again.  The 
sweet  sound,  was  repeated  once  more,  but  much  lower 
down  now,  and  so  faintly  that  I  scarcely  heard  it. 
And  when  I  went  on  further,  and  called  again  and 
again,  there  was  no  reply,  and  I  knew  that  she  had 
indeed  gone  on  that  long  journey  alone. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

WHEN  Nuflo  at  length  opened  his  eyes  he 
found  me  sitting  alone  and  despondent  by 
the  fire,  just  returned  from  my  vain  chase.  I  had 
been  caught  in  a  heavy  mist  on  the  mountain-side, 
and  was  wet  through  as  well  as  weighed  down  by  fa- 
tigue and  drowsiness,  consequent  upon  the  previous 
day's  laborious  march  and  my  night-long  vigil ;  yet  I 
dared  not  think  of  rest.  She  had  gone  from  me,  and 
I  could  not  have  prevented  it;  yet  the  thought  that 
I  had  allowed  her  to  slip  out  of  my  arms,  to  go  away 
alone  on  that  long,  perilous  journey,  was  as  intoler- 
able as  if  I  had  consented  to  it. 

Nuflo  was  at  first  startled  to  hear  of  her  sudden 
departure ;  but  he  laughed  at  my  fears,  affirming  that 
after  having  once  been  over  the  ground  she  could 
not  lose  herself;  that  she  would  be  in  no  danger 
from  the  Indians,  as  she  would  invariably  see  them 
at  a  distance  and  avoid  them,  and  that  wild  beasts, 
serpents,  and  other  evil  creatures  would  do  her  no 
harm.  The  small  amount  of  food  she  required  to 
sustain  life  could  be  found  anywhere;  furthermore, 
her    journey    would    not    be    interrupted    by    bad 

weather,  since  rain  and  heat  had  no  effect  on  her. 

275 


276  GREEN  MANSIONS 

In  the  end  he  seemed  pleased  that  she  had  left  us, 
saying  that  with  Rima  in  the  wood  the  house  and 
cultivated  patch  and  hidden  provisions  and  imple- 
ments would  be  safe,  for  no  Indian  would  venture  to 
come  where  she  was.  His  confidence  reassured  me, 
and  casting  myself  down  on  the  sandy  floor  of  the 
cave,  I  fell  into  a  deep  slumber,  which  lasted  until 
evening;  then  I  only  woke  to  share  a  meal  with  the 
old  man,  and  sleep  again  until  the  following  day. 

Nuflo  was  not  ready  to  start  yet ;  he  was  enam- 
oured of  the  unaccustomed  comforts  of  a  dry  sleep- 
ing-place and  a  fire  blown  about  by  no  wind  and  into 
which  fell  no  hissing  rain-drops.  Not  for  two  days 
more  would  he  consent  to  set  out  on  the  return 
journey,  and  if  he  could  have  persuaded  me  our  stay 
at  Riolama  would  have  lasted  a  week. 

We  had  fine  weather  at  starting;  but  before  long 
it  clouded,  and  then  for  upwards  of  a  fortnight  we 
had  it  wet  and  stormy,  which  so  hindered  us  that  it 
took  us  twenty-three  days  to  accomplish  the  return 
journey,  whereas  the  journey  out  had  only  taken 
eighteen.  The  adventures  we  met  with  and  the  pains 
we  suffered  during  this  long  march  need  not  be  re- 
lated. The  rain  made  us  miserable,  but  we  suffered 
more  from  hunger  than  from  any  other  cause,  and 
on  more  than  one  occasion  were  reduced  to  the  verge 
of  starvation.  Twice  we  were  driven  to  beg  for  food 
at  Indian  villages,  and  as  we  had  nothing  to  give  in 
exchange  for  it,  we  got  very  little.     It  is  possible 


GREEN  MANSIONS  277 

to  buy  hospitality  from  the  savage  without  fish- 
hooks, nails,  and  calico ;  but  on  this  occasion  I  found 
myself  without  that  impalpable  medium  of  exchange, 
which  had  been  so  great  a  help  to  me  on  my  first 
journey  to  Parahuari.  Now  I  was  weak  and  miser- 
able and  without  cunning.  It  is  true  that  we  could 
have  exchanged  the  two  dogs  for  cassava-bread  and 
corn,  but  we  should  then  have  been  worse  off  than 
ever.  And  in  the  end  the  dogs  saved  us  by  an  oc- 
casional capture — an  armadillo  surprised  in  the  open 
and  seized  before  it  could  bury  itself  in  the  soil,  or 
an  iguana,  opossum,  or  labba,  traced  by  means  of 
their  keen  sense  of  smell  to  its  hiding-place.  Then 
Nuflo  would  rejoice  and  feast,  rewarding  them  with 
the  skin,  bones,  and  entrails.  But  at  length  one  of 
the  dogs  fell  lame,  and  Nuflo,  who  was  very  hungry, 
made  its  lameness  an  excuse  for  despatching  it,  which 
he  did  apparently  without  compunction,  notwith- 
standing that  the  poor  brute  had  served  him  well  in 
its  way.  He  cut  up  and  smoke-dried  the  flesh,  and 
the  intolerable  pangs  of  hunger  compelled  me  to 
share  the  loathsome  food  with  him.  We  were  not 
only  indecent,  it  seemed  to  me,  but  cannibals  to  feed 
on  the  faithful  servant  that  had  been  our  butcher. 
"  But  what  does  it  matter?  "  I  argued  with  myself. 
"  All  flesh,  clean  and  unclean,  should  be,  and  is, 
equally  abhorrent  to  me,  and  killing  animals  a  kind 
of  murder.  But  now  I  find  myself  constrained  to 
do  this  evil  thing  that  good  may  come.     Only  to  live 


278  GREEN  MANSIONS 

I  take  it  now — this  hateful  strength-giver  that  will 
enable  me  to  reach  Rima,  and  the  purer,  better  life 
that  is  to  be." 

During  all  that  time,  when  we  toiled  onwards 
league  after  league  in  silence,  or  sat  silent  by  the 
nightly  fire,  I  thought  of  many  things ;  but  the  past, 
with  which  I  had  definitely  broken,  was  little  in  my 
mind.  Rima  was  still  the  source  and  centre  of  all 
my  thoughts ;  from  her  they  rose,  and  to  her  re- 
turned. Thinking,  hoping,  dreaming,  sustained  me 
in  those  dark  days  and  nights  of  pain  and  privation. 
Imagination  was  the  bread  that  gave  me  strength, 
the  wine  that  exhilarated.  What  sustained  old 
Nuflo's  mind  I  know  not.  Probably  it  was  like  a 
chrysalis,  dormant,  independent  of  sustenance;  the 
bright-winged  image  to  be  called  at  some  future  time 
to  life  by  a  great  shouting  of  angelic  hosts  and  noises 
of  musical,  instruments  slept  secure,  coffined  in  that 
dull,  gross  nature. 

The  old  beloved  wood  once  more !  Never  did  his 
native  village  in  some  mountain  valley  seem  more 
beautiful  to  the  Switzer,  returning,  war-worn,  from 
long  voluntary  exile,  than  did  that  blue  cloud  on  the 
horizon- — the  forest  where  Rima  dwelt,  my  bride,  my 
beautiful — and  towering  over  it  the  dark  cone  of 
Ytaioa,  now  seem  to  my  hungry  eyes !  How  near  at 
last — how  near!  And  yet  the  two  or  three  inter- 
vening leagues   to   be   traversed  so  slowly,  step  by 


GREEN  MANSIONS  279 

step — how  vast  the  distance  seemed!  Even  at  far 
Riolama,  when  I  set  out  on  my  return,  I  scarcely 
seemed  so  far  from  my  love.  This  maddening  im- 
patience told  on  my  strength,  which  was  small,  and 
hindered  me.  I  could  not  run  nor  even  walk  fast; 
old  Nuflo,  slow,  and  sober,  with  no  flame  consuming 
his  heart,  was  more  than  my  equal  in  the  end,  and  to 
keep  up  with  him  was  all  I  could  do. 

At  the  finish  he  became  silent  and  cautious,  first 
entering  the  belt  of  trees  leading  away  through  the 
low  range  of  hills  at  the  southern  extremity  of  the 
wood.  For  a  mile  or  upwards  we  trudged  on  in  the 
shade;  then  I  began  to  recognise  familiar  ground, 
the  old  trees  under  which  I  had  walked  or  sat,  and 
knew  that  a  hundred  yards  further  on  there  would  be 
a  first  glimpse  of  the  palm-leaf  thatch.  Then  all 
weakness  forsook  me ;  with  a  low  cry  of  passionate 
longing  and  joy  I  rushed  on  ahead;  but  I  strained 
my  eyes  in  vain  for  a  sight  of  that  sweet  shelter ;  no 
patch  of  pale  yellow  colour  appeared  amidst  the  uni- 
versal verdure  of  bushes,  creepers,  and  trees — trees 
beyond  trees,  trees  towering  above  trees. 

For  some  moments  I  could  not  realise  it.  No,  I 
had  surely  made  a  mistake,  the  house  had  not  stood 
on  that  spot ;  it  would  appear  in  sight  a  little  further 
on.  I  took  a  few  uncertain  steps  onwards,  and  then 
again  stood  still,  my  brain  reeling,  my  heart  swell- 
ing nigh  to  bursting  with  anguish.  I  was  still  stand- 
ing motionless,  with  hand  pressed  to  my  breast,  when 


280  GREEN  MANSIONS 

Nuflo  overtook  me.  "Where  is  it — the  house?"  I 
stammered,  pointing  with  my  hand.  All  his  stolidity 
seemed  gone  now ;  he  was  trembling  too,  his  lips 
silently  moving.  At  length  he  spoke :  "  They  have 
come — the  children  of  hell  have  been  here,  and  have 
destroyed  everything !  " 

"Rima!  What  has  become  of  Rima?"  I  cried; 
but  without  replying  he  walked  on,  and  I  followed. 

The  house,  we  soon  found,  had  been  burnt  down. 
Not  a  stick  remained.  Where  it  had  stood  a  heap  of 
black  ashes  covered  the  ground — nothing  more. 
Eut  on  looking  round  we  could  discover  no  sign  of 
human  beings  having  recently  visited  the  spot.  A 
rank  growth  of  grass  and  herbage  now  covered  the 
once  clear  space  surrounding  the  site  of  the  dwelling, 
and  the  ash  heap  looked  as  if  it  had  been  lying  there 
for  a  month  at  least.  As  to  what  had  become  of 
Rima  the  old  man  could  say  no  word.  He  sat  down 
on  the  ground  overwhelmed  at  the  calamity:  Runi's 
people  had  been  there,  he  could  not  doubt  it,  and 
they  would  come  again,  and  he  could  only  look  for 
death  at  their  hands.  The  thought  that  Rima  had 
perished,  that  she  was  lost,  was  unendurable.  It 
could  not  be !  No  doubt  the  Indians  had  come  and 
destroyed  the  house  during  our  absence ;  but  she  had 
returned,  and  they  had  gone  away  again  to  come 
no  more.  She  would  be  somewhere  in  the  forest, 
perhaps  not  far  off,  impatiently  waiting  our  return. 
The  old  man  stared  at  me  while  I  spoke ;  he  appeared 


GREEN  MANSIONS  281 

to  be  in  a  kind  of  stupor,  and  made  no  reply :  and  at 
last,  leaving  him  still  sitting  on  the  ground,  I  went 
into  the  wood  to  look  for  Rima. 

As  I  walked  there,  occasionally  stopping  to  peer 
into  some  shadowy  glade  or  opening,  and  to  listen,  I 
was  tempted  again  and  again  to  call  the  name  of  her 
I  sought  aloud ;  and  still  the  fear  that  by  so  doing  I 
might  bring  some  hidden  danger  on  myself,  perhaps 
on  her,  made  me  silent.  A  strange  melancholy 
rested  on  the  forest,  a  quietude  seldom  broken  by  a 
distant  bird's  cry.  How,  I  asked  myself,  should  I 
ever  find  her  in  that  wide  forest  while  I  moved  about 
in  that  silent,  cautious  way?  My  only  hope  was 
that  she  would  find  me.  It  occurred  to  me  that 
the  most  likely  place  to  seek  her  would  be  some 
of  the  old  haunts  known  to  us  both,  where  we  had 
talked  together.  I  thought  first  of  the  mora  tree, 
where  she  had  hidden  herself  from  me,  and  thither  I 
directed  my  steps.  About  this  tree,  and  within  its 
shade,  I  lingered  for  upwards  of  an  hour;  and., 
finally,  casting  my  eyes  up  into  the  great  dim  cloud 
of  green  and  purple  leaves,  I  softly  called,  "  Rima, 
Rima,  if  you  have  seen  me,  and  have  concealed  your- 
self from  me  in  your  hiding-place,  in  mercy  answer 
me — in  mercy  come  down  to  me  now !  "  Rut  Rima 
answered  not,  nor  threw  down  any  red  glowing  leaves 
to  mock  me :  only  the  wind,  high  up,  whispered  some- 
thing low  and  sorrowful  in  the  foliage ;  and  turning 
I  wandered  away  at  random  into  the  deeper  shadows. 


282  GREEN  MANSIONS 

By-and-by  I  was  startled  by  the  long,  piercing  cry 
of  a  wild  fowl,  sounding  strangely  loud  in  the  silence ; 
and  no  sooner  was  the  air  still  again  than  it  struck 
me  that  no  bird  had  uttered  that  cry.  The  Indian 
is  a  good  mimic  of  animal  voices,  but  practice  had 
made  me  able  to  distinguish  the  true  from  the  false 
bird  note.  For  a  minute  or  so  I  stood  still,  at  a  loss 
what  to  do,  then  moved  on  again  with  greater 
caution,  scarcely  breathing,  straining  my  sight  to 
pierce  the  shadowy  depths.  All  at  once  I  gave  a 
great  start,  for  directly  before  me,  on  the  projecting 
root  in  the  deeper  shade  of  a  tree,  sat  a  dark,  motion- 
less human  form.  I  stood  still,  watching  it  for  some 
time,  not  yet  knowing  that  it  had  seen  me,  when  all 
doubts  were  put  to  flight  by  the  form  rising  and 
deliberately  advancing — a  naked  Indian  with  a  zaba- 
tana  in  his  hand.  As  he  came  up  out  of  the  deeper 
shade  I  recognised  Piake,  the  surly  elder  brother  of 
my  friend  Kua-ko. 

It  was  a  great  shock  to  meet  him  in  the  wood,  but 
I  had  no  time  to  reflect  just  then.  I  only  remem- 
bered that  I  had  deeply  offended  him  and  his  people, 
that  they  probably  looked  on  me  as  an  enemy,  and 
would  think  little  of  taking  my  life.  It  was  too  late 
to  attempt  to  escape  by  flight ;  I  was  spent  with  my 
long  journey  and  the  many  privations  I  had  suffered, 
while  he  stood  there  in  his  full  strength  with  a  deadly 
weapon  in  his  hand. 

Nothing  was  left  but  to  put  a  bold  face  on,  greet 


GREEN  MANSIONS  283 

him  in  a  friendly  way,  and  invent  some  plausible 
story  to  account  for  my  action  in  secretly  leaving  the 
village. 

He  was  now  standing  still,  silently  regarding  me, 
and  glancing  round  I  saw  that  he  was  not  alone: 
at  a  distance  of  about  forty  yards  on  my  right  hand 
two  other  dusky  forms  appeared  watching  me  from 
the  deep  shade. 

"  Piake !  "  I  cried,  advancing  three  or  four  steps. 

"  You  have  returned,"  he  answered,  but  without 
moving.     "  Where  from?  " 

"  Riolama." 

He  shook  his  head,  then  asked  where  it  was. 

"  Twenty  days  towards  the  setting  sun,"  I  said. 
As  he  remained  silent  I  added,  "  I  heard  that  I  could 
find  gold  in  the  mountains  there.  An  old  man  told 
me,  and  we  went  to  look  for  gold." 

"What  did  you  find?" 

"  Nothing." 

"  Ah ! " 

And  so  our  conversation  appeared  to  be  at  an  end. 
But  after  a  few  moments  my  intense  desire  to  dis- 
cover whether  the  savages  knew  aught  of  Rima  or  not 
made  me  hazard  a  question. 

"  Do  you  live  here  in  the  forest  now  ?  "  I  asked. 

He  shook  his  head,  and  after  a  while  said,  "  We 
come  to  kill  animals." 

"  You  are  like  me  now,"  I  returned  quickly ;  "  you 
fear  nothing." 


284  GREEN  MANSIONS 

He  looked  distrustfully  at  me,  then  came  a  little 
nearer  and  said — 

"  You  are  very  brave.  I  should  not  have  gone 
twenty  days'  journey  with  no  weapons  and  only  an 
old  man  for  companion.  What  weapons  did  you 
have?  " 

I  saw  that  he  feared  me,  and  wished  to  make  sure 
that  I  had  it  not  in  my  power  to  do  him  some  injury. 
"  No  weapon  except  my  knife,"  I  replied,  with  as- 
sumed carelessness.  With  that  I  raised  my  cloak  so 
as  to  let  him  see  for  himself,  turning  my  body  round 
before  him.     "  Have  you  found  my  pistol?  "  I  added. 

He  shook  his  head ;  but  he  appeared  less  suspicious 
now  and  came  close  up  to  me.  "  How  do  you  get 
food?     Where  are  you  going?  "  he  asked. 

I  answered  boldly,  "  Food !  I  am  nearly  starving. 
I  am  going  to  the  village  to  see  if  the  women  have 
got  any  meat  in  the  pot,  and  to  tell  Runi  all  I  have 
done  since  I  left  him." 

He  looked  at  me  keenly,  a  little  surprised  at  my 
confidence  perhaps,  then  said  that  he  was  also  going 
back  and  would  accompany  me.  One  of  the  other 
men  now  advanced,  blow-pipe  in  hand,  to  join  us, 
and,  leaving  the  wood,  we  started  to  walk  across  the 
savannah. 

It  was  hateful  to  have  to  recross  that  savannah 
again,  to  leave  the  woodland  shadows  where  I  had 
hoped  to  find  Rima ;  but  I  was  powerless :  I  was  a 
prisoner  once  more,  the  lost  captive  recovered  and 


GREEN  MANSIONS  285 

not  yet  pardoned,  probably  never  to  be  pardoned. 
Only  by  means  of  my  own  cunning  could  I  be  saved, 
and  Nuflo,  poor  old  man,  must  take  his  chance. 

Again  and  again  as  we  tramped  over  the  barren 
ground,  and  when  we  climbed  the  ridge,  I  was  com- 
pelled to  stand  still  to  recover  breath,  explaining  to 
Piake  that  I  had  been  travelling  day  and  night,  with 
no  meat  during  the  last  three  days,  so  that  I  was 
exhausted.  This  was  an  exaggeration,  but  it  was 
necessary  to  account  in  some  way  for  the  faintness 
I  experienced  during  our  walk,  caused  less  by  fatigue 
and  want  of  food  than  by  anguish  of  mind. 

At  intervals  I  talked  to  him,  asking  after  all  the 
other  members  of  the  community  by  name.  At  last, 
thinking  only  of  Rima,  I  asked  him  if  any  other  per- 
son or  persons  besides  his  people  came  to  the  wood 
now  or  lived  there. 

He  said  no. 

"  Once,"  I  said,  "  there  was  a  daughter  of  the 
Didi,  a  girl  you  all  feared:  is  she  there  now?  " 

He  looked  at  me  with  suspicion  and  then  shook  his 
head.  I  dared  not  press  him  with  more  questions ; 
but  after  an  interval  he  said  plainly,  "  She  is  not 
there  now." 

And  I  was  forced  to  believe  him;  for  had  Rima 
been  in  the  wood  they  would  not  have  been  there. 
She  was  not  there,  this  much  I  had  discovered.  Had 
she,  then,  lost  her  way,  or  perished  on  that  long 
journey  from  Riolama?     Or  had  she  returned  only 


286  GREEN  MANSIONS 

to  fall  into  the  hands  of  her  cruel  enemies?  My 
heart  was  heavy  in  me ;  but  if  these  devils  in  human 
shape  knew  more  than  they  had  told  me,  I  must,  I 
said,  hide  my  anxiety  and  wait  patiently  to  find  it 
out,  should  they  spare  my  life.  And  if  they  spared 
me  and  had  not  spared  that  other  sacred  life  inter- 
woven with  mine,  the  time  would  come  when  they 
would  find,  too  late,  that  they  had  taken  to  their 
bosom  a  worse  devil  than  themselves. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Y  arrival  at  the  village  created  some  excite- 
ment; but  I  was  plainly  no  longer  regarded 
as  a  friend  or  one  of  the  family.  Runi  was  absent, 
and  I  locked  forward  to  his  return  with  no  little 
apprehension;  he  would  doubtless  decide  my  fate. 
Kua-ko  was  also  away.  The  others  sat  or  stood 
about  the  great  room,  staring  at  me  in  silence.  I 
took  no  notice,  but  merely  asked  for  food,  then  for 
my  hammock,  which  I  hung  up  in  the  old  place,  and 
lying  down  I  fell  into  a  doze.  Runi  made  his  ap- 
pearance at  dusk.  I  rose  and  greeted  him,  but  he 
spoke  no  word,  and,  until  he  went  to  his  hammock, 
sat  in  sullen  silence,  ignoring  my  presence. 

On  the  following  day  the  crisis  came.  We  were 
once  more  gathered  in  the  room — all  but  Kua-ko  and 
another  of  the  men,  who  had  not  yet  returned  from 
some  expedition — and  for  the  space  of  half  an  hour 
not  a  word  was  spoken  by  anyone.  Something  was 
expected;  even  the  children  were  strangely  still,  and 
whenever  one  of  the  pet  birds  strayed  in  at  the  open 
door,  uttering  a  little  plaintive  note,  it  was  chased 
out   again,   but  without   a   sound.     At  length  Runi 

straightened  himself  on  his  seat  and  fixed  his  eyes 

287 


288  GREEN  MANSIONS 

on  me;  then  cleared  his  throat  and  began  a  long 
harangue,  delivered  in  the  loud,  monotonous  sing- 
song which  I  knew  so  well  and  which  meant  that  the 
occasion  was  an  important  one.  And  as  is  usual  in 
such  efforts,  the  same  thought  and  expressions  were 
used  again  and  again,  and  yet  again,  with  dull,  angry 
insistence.  The  orator  of  Guayana  to  be  impressive 
must  be  long,  however  little  he  may  have  to  say. 
Strange  as  it  may  seem,  I  listened  critically  to  him, 
not  without  a  feeling  of  scorn  at  his  lower  intelli- 
gence. But  I  was  easier  in  my  mind  now.  From  the 
very  fact  of  his  addressing  such  a  speech  to  me  I  was 
convinced  that  he  wished  not  to  take  my  life,  and 
would  not  do  so  if  I  could  clear  myself  of  the  sus- 
picion of  treachery. 

I  was  a  white  man,  he  said,  they  were  Indians ; 
nevertheless  they  had  treated  me  well.  They  had 
fed  me  and  sheltered  me.  They  had  done  a  great 
deal  for  me :  they  had  taught  me  the  use  of  the  zaba- 
tana,  and  had  promised  to  make  one  for  me,  asking 
for  nothing  in  return.  They  had  also  promised  me 
a  wife.  How  had  I  treated  them?  I  had  deserted 
them,  going  away  secretly  to  a  distance,  leaving 
them  in  doubt  as  to  my  intentions.  How  could  they 
tell  why  I  had  gone,  and  where?  They  had  an 
enemy.  Managa  was  his  name;  he  and  his  people 
hated  them ;  I  knew  that  he  wished  them  evil ;  I  knew 
where  to  find  him,  for  they  had  told  me.  That  was 
what  they  thought  when  I  suddenly  left  them.     Now 


GREEN  MANSIONS  289 

I  returned  to  them,  saying  that  I  had  been  to  Rio- 
lama.  He  knew  where  Riolama  was,  although  he 
had  never  been  there:  it  was  so  far.  Why  did  I  go 
to  Riolama?  It  was  a  bad  place.  There  were  In- 
dians there,  a  few;  but  they  were  not  good  Indians 
like  those  of  Parahuari,  and  would  kill  a  white  man. 
Had  I  gone  there?     Why  had  I  gone  there? 

He  finished  at  last,  and  it  was  my  turn  to  speak, 
but  he  had  given  me  plenty  of  time,  and  my  reply 
was  ready  "  I  have  heard  you,"  I  said.  "  Your 
words  are  good  words.  They  are  the  words  of  a 
friend.  I  am  the  white  man's  friend,  you  say :  is  he 
my  friend?  He  went  away  secretly,  saying  no 
word:  why  did  he  go  without  speaking  to  his  friend 
who  had  treated  him  well  ?  Has  he  been  to  my  enemy 
Managa?  Perhaps  he  is  a  friend  of  my  enemy? 
Where  has  he  been?  I  must  now  answer  these 
things,  saying  true  words  to  my  friend.  You  are  an 
Indian,  I  am  a  white  man.  You  do  not  know  all  the 
white  man's  thoughts.  These  are  the  things  I  wish 
to  tell  you.  In  the  white  man's  country  are  two 
kinds  of  men.  There  are  the  rich  men,  who  have  all 
that  a  man  can  desire — houses  made  of  stone,  full  of 
fine  things,  fine  clothes,  fine  weapons,  fine  ornaments ; 
and  they  have  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  dogs — everything 
they  desire.  Because  they  have  gold,  for  with  gold 
the  white  man  buys  everything.  The  other  kind  of 
white  men  are  the  poor,  who  have  no  gold  and  cannot 
buy  or  have  anything:  they  must  work  hard  for  the 


290  GREEN  MANSIONS 

rich  man  for  the  little  food  he  gives  them,  and  a 
rag  to  cover  their  nakedness ;  and  if  he  gives  them 
shelter  they  have  it ;  if  not  they  must  lie  down  in  the 
rain  out  of  doors.  In  my  own  country,  a  hundred 
days  from  here,  I  was  the  son  of  a  great  chief,  who 
had  much  gold,  and  when  he  died  it  was  all  mine,  and 
I  was  rich.  But  I  had  an  enemy,  one  worse  than 
Managa,  for  he  was  rich  and  had  many  people.  And 
in  a  war  his  people  overcame  mine,  and  he  took  my 
gold,  and  all  I  possessed,  making  me  poor.  The  In- 
dian kills  his  enemy,  but  the  white  man  takes  his 
gold,  and  that  is  worse  than  death.  Then  I  said: 
I  have  been  a  rich  man  and  now  I  am  poor,  and 
must  work  like  a  dog  for  some  rich  man,  for  the 
sake  of  the  little  food  he  will  throw  me  at  the  end 
of  each  day.  No,  I  cannot  do  it !  I  will  go  away 
and  live  with  the  Indians,  so  that  those  who  have 
seen  me  a  rich  man  shall  never  see  me  working  like 
a  dog  for  a  master,  and  cry  out  and  mock  at  me. 
For  the  Indians  are  not  like  white  men:  they  hav<; 
no  gold;  they  are  not  rich  and  poor;  all  are  alike. 
One  roof  covers  them  from  the  rain  and  sun.  All 
have  weapons  which  they  make ;  all  kill  birds  in  the 
forest  and  catch  fish  in  the  rivers ;  and  the  women 
cook  the  meat  and  all  eat  from  one  pot.  And  with 
the  Indians,  I  will  be  an  Indian,  and  hunt  in  the 
forest  and  eat  with  them  and  drink  with  them.  Then 
I  left  my  country  and  came  here,  and  lived  with  you, 
Runi,  and  was  well  treated.     And  now,  why  did  I 


GREEN  MANSIONS  291 

go  away?  This  I  have  now  to  tell  you.  After  I 
had  been  here  a  certain  time  I  went  over  there  to  the 
forest.  You  wished  me  not  to  go,  because  of  an 
evil  thing,  a  daughter  of  the  Didi,  that  lived  there ; 
but  I  feared  nothing  and  went.  There  I  met  an 
old  man,  who  talked  to  me  in  the  white  man's 
language.  He  had  travelled  and  seen  much,  and  told 
me  one  strange  thing.  On  a  mountain  at  Riolama 
he  told  me  that  he  had  seen  a  great  lump  of  gold,  as 
much  as  a  man  could  carry.  And  when  I  heard  this 
I  said,  *  With  the  gold  I  could  return  to  my  country, 
and  buy  weapons  for  myself  and  all  my  people  and 
go  to  war  with  my  enemy  and  deprive  him  of  all  his 
possessions  and  serve  him  as  he  served  me.'  I  asked 
the  old  man  to  take  me  to  Riolama ;  and  when  he 
had  consented  I  went  away  from  here  without  saying 
a  word,  so  as  not  to  be  prevented.  It  is  far  to  Rio- 
lama, and  I  had  no  weapons ;  but  I  feared  nothing. 
I  said,  *  If  I  must  fight  I  must  fight,  and  if  I  must 
be  killed  I  must  be  killed.'  But  when  I  got  to  Rio- 
lama I  found  no  gold.  There  was  only  a  yellow 
stone  which  the  old  man  had  mistaken  for  gold.  It 
was  yellow,  like  gold,  but  it  would  buy  nothing. 
Therefore  I  came  back  to  Parahuari  again,  to  my 
friend;  and  if  he  is  angry  with  me  still  because  I 
went  away  without  informing  him,  let  him  say,  *  Go 
and  seek  elsewhere  for  a  new  friend,  for  I  am  your 
friend  no  longer.'  " 

I  concluded  thus  boldly,  because  I  did  not  wish 


292  GREEN  MANSIONS 

him  to  know  that  I  had  suspected  him  of  harbouring 
any  sinister  designs,  or  that  I  looked  on  our  quarrel 
as  a  very  serious  one.  When  I  had  finished  speaking 
he  emitted  a  sound  which  expressed  neither  approval 
nor  disapproval,  but  only  the  fact  that  he  had  heard 
me.  But  I  was  satisfied.  His  expression  had  un- 
dergone a  favourable  change;  it  was  less  grim. 
After  a  while  he  remarked,  with  a  peculiar  twitching 
of  the  mouth  which  might  have  developed  into  a 
smile,  "  The  white  man  will  do  much  to  get  gold. 
You  walked  twenty  days  to  see  a  yellow  stone  that 
would  buy  nothing."  It  was  fortunate  that  he  took 
this  view  of  the  case,  which  was  flattering  to  his  In- 
dian nature,  and  perhaps  touched  his  sense  of  the 
ludicrous.  At  all  events,  he  said  nothing  to  discredit 
my  story,  to  which  they  had  all  listened  with  pro- 
found interest. 

From  that  time  it  seemed  to  be  tacitly  agreed  to 
let  bygones  be  bygones ;  and  I  could  see  that  as  the 
dangerous  feeling  that  had  threatened  my  life  di- 
minished the  old  pleasure  they  had  once  found  in  my 
company  returned.  But  my  feelings  towards  them 
did  not  change,  nor  could  they  while  that  black  and 
terrible  suspicion  concerning  Rima  was  in  my  heart. 
I  talked  again  freely  with  them,  as  if  there  had  been 
no  break  in  the  old  friendly  relations.  If  they 
watched  me  furtively  whenever  I  went  out  of  doors  I 
affected  not  to  see  it.  I  set  to  work  to  repair  my 
rude  guitar,  which  had  been  broken  in  my  absence, 


GREEN  MANSIONS  293 

and  studied  to  show  them  a  cheerful  countenance. 
But  when  alone,  or  in  my  hammock,  hidden  from  their 
eyes,  free  to  look  into  my  own  heart,  then  I  was  con- 
scious that  something  new  and  strange  had  come  into 
my  life;  that  a  new  nature,  black  and  implacable, 
had  taken  the  place  of  the  old.  And  sometimes  it 
was  hard  to  conceal  this  fury  that  burnt  in  me; 
sometimes  I  felt  an  impulse  to  spring  like  a  tiger  on 
one  of  the  Indians,  to  hold  him  fast  by  the  throat 
until  the  secret  I  wished  to  learn  was  forced  from 
his  lips,  then  to  dash  his  brains  out  against  the  stone. 
But  they  were  many,  and  there  was  no  choice  but  to 
be  cautious  and  patient  if  I  wished  to  outwit  them 
with  a  cunning  superior  to  their  own. 

Three  days  after  my  arrival  at  the  village,  Kua-ko 
returned  with  his  companion.  I  greeted  him  with 
affected  warmth,  but  was  really  pleased  that  he  was 
back,  believing  that  if  the  Indians  knew  anything  of 
Rima  he  among  them  all  would  be  most  likely  to 
tell  it. 

Kua-ko  appeared  to  have  brought  some  important 
news,  which  he  discussed  with  Runi  and  the  others ; 
and  on  the  following  day  I  noticed  that  preparations 
for  an  expedition  were  in  progress.  Spears  and 
bows  and  arrows  were  got  ready,  but  not  blow-pipes, 
and  I  knew  by  this  that  the  expedition  would  not  be 
a  hunting  one.  Having  discovered  so  much,  also 
that  only  four  men  were  going  out,  I  called  Kua-ko 
aside  and  begged  him  to  let  me  go  with  them.     He 


294  GREEN  MANSIONS 

seemed  pleased  at  the  proposal,  and  at  once  repeated 
it  to  Runi,  who  considered  for  a  little  and  then  con- 
sented. 

By-and-by  he  said,  touching  his  bow,  "  You  cannot 
fight  with  our  weapons ;  what  will  you  do  if  we  meet 
an  enemy?  " 

I  smiled  and  returned  that  I  would  not  run  away. 
All  I  wished  to  show  him  was  that  his  enemies  were 
my  enemies,  that  I  was  ready  to  fight  for  my  friend. 

He  was  pleased  at  my  words,  and  said  no  more  and 
gave  me  no  weapons.  Next  morning,  however,  when 
we  set  out  before  daylight,  I  made  the  discovery  that 
he  was  carrying  my  revolver  fastened  to  his  waist. 
He  had  concealed  it  carefully  under  the  one  simple 
garment  he  wore,  but  it  bulged  slightly,  and  so  the 
secret  was  betrayed.  I  had  never  believed  that  he 
had  lost  it,  and  I  was  convinced  that  he  took  it  now 
with  the  object  of  putting  it  into  my  hands  at  the 
last  moment  in  case  of  meeting  with  an  enemy. 

From  the  village  we  travelled  in  a  north-westerly 
direction,  and  before  noon  camped  in  a  grove  of 
dwarf  trees,  where  we  remained  until  the  sun  was 
low,  then  continued  our  walk  through  a  rather  barren 
country.  At  night  we  camped  again  beside  a  small 
stream,  only  a  few  inches  deep,  and  after  a  meal  of 
smoked  meat  and  parched  maize  prepared  to  sleep 
till  dawn  on  the  next  da}\ 

Sitting  by  the  fire  I  resolved  to  make  a  first  at- 
tempt to  discover  from  Kua-ko  anything  concerning 


GREEN  MANSIONS  295 

Rima  which  might  be  known  to  him.  Instead  of 
lying  down  when  the  others  did  I  remained  seated, 
my  guardian  also  sitting — no  doubt  waiting  for  me 
to  lie  down  first.  Presently  I  moved  nearer  to  him 
and  began  a  conversation  in  a  low  voice,  anxious  not 
to  rouse  the  attention  of  the  other  men. 

"  Once  you  said  that  Oalava  would  be  given  to 
me  for  a  wife,"  I  began.  "  Some  day  I  shall  want  a 
wife." 

He  nodded  approval,  and  remarked  sententiously 
that  the  desire  to  possess  a  wife  was  common  to  all 
men. 

"  What  has  been  left  to  me  ?  "  I  said  despondingly 
and  spreading  out  my  hands.  "  My  pistol  gone, 
and  did  I  not  give  Runi  the  tinder-box,  and  the  little 
box  with  a  cock  painted  on  it  to  you?  I  had  no  re- 
turn— not  even  the  blow-pipe.  How,  then,  can  I 
get  me  a  wife  ?  " 

He,  like  the  others — dull-witted  savage  that  he 
was — had  come  to  the  belief  that  I  was  incapable  of 
the  cunning  and  duplicity  they  practised.  I  could 
not  see  a  green  parrot  sitting  silent  and  motionless 
amidst  the  green  foliage  as  they  could;  I  had  not 
their  preternatural  keenness  of  sight;  and,  in  like 
manner,  to  deceive  with  lies  and  false  seeming  was 
their  faculty  and  not  mine.  He  fell  readily  into  the 
trap.  My  return  to  practical  subjects  pleased  him. 
He  bade  me  hope  that  Oalava  might  yet  be  mine 
in  spite  of  my  poverty.     It  was  not  always  necessary 


296  GREEN  MANSIONS 

to  have  things  to  get  a  wife:  to  be  able  to  maintain 
her  was  enough ;  some  day  I  would  be  like  one  of 
themselves,  able  to  kill  animals  and  catch  fish.  Be- 
sides, did  not  Runi  wish  to  keep  me  with  them  for 
other  reasons?  But  he  could  not  keep  me  wifeless. 
I  could  do  much:  I  could  sing  and  make  music;  I 
was  brave  and  feared  nothing;  I  could  teach  the 
children  to  fight. 

He  did  not  say,  however,  that  I  could  teach  any- 
thing to  one  of  his  years  and  attainments. 

I  protested  that  he  gave  me  too  much  praise,  that 
they  were  just  as  brave.  Did  they  not  show  a  cour- 
age equal  to  mine  by  going  every  day  to  hunt  in  that 
wood  which  was  inhabited  by  the  daughter  of  the 
Didi? 

I  came  to  this  subject  with  fear  and  trembling, 
but  he  took  it  quietly.  He  shook  his  head,  and  then 
all  at  once  began  to  tell  me  how  they  first  came  to 
go  there  to  hunt.  He  said  that  a  few  days  after  I 
had  secretly  disappeared,  two  men  and  a  woman,  re- 
turning home  from  a  distant  place  where  they  had 
been  on  a  visit  to  a  relation,  stopped  at  the  village. 
These  travellers  related  that  two  days'  journey  from 
Ytaioa  they  had  met  three  persons  travelling  in  an 
opposite  direction:  an  old  man  with  a  white  beard, 
followed  by  two  yellow  dogs,  a  young  man  in  a  big 
cloak,  and  a  strange-looking  girl.  Thus  it  came  to 
be  known  that  I  had  left  the  wood  with  the  old  man 
and  the  daughter  of  the  Didi.     It  was  great  news  to 


GREEN  MANSIONS  297 

them,  for  they  did  not  believe  that  we  had  any  inten- 
tion of  returning,  and  at  once  they  began  to  hunt 
in  the  wood,  and  went  there  every  day,  killing  birds, 
monkeys,  and  other  animals  in  numbers. 

His  words  had  begun  to  excite  me  greatly,  but  I 
studied  to  appear  calm,  and  only  slightly  interested, 
so  as  to  draw  him  on  to  say  more. 

"  Then  we  returned,"  I  said  at  last.  "  But  only 
two  of  us,  and  not  together.  I  left  the  old  man  on 
the  road,  and  she  left  us  in  Riolama.  She  went  away 
from  us  into  the  mountains — who  knows  whither !  " 

"  But  she  came  back ! "  he  returned,  with  a  gleam 
of  devilish  satisfaction  in  his  eyes  that  made  the 
blood  run  cold  in  my  veins. 

It  was  hard  to  dissemble  still,  to  tempt  him  to  say 
something  that  would  madden  me !  "  No,  no,"  I  an- 
swered, after  considering  his  words.  "  She  feared 
to  return ;  she  went  away  to  hide  herself  in  the  great 
mountains  beyond  Riolama.  She  could  not  come 
back." 

"  But  she  came  back !  "  he  persisted,  with  that  tri- 
umphant gleam  in  his  eyes  once  more.  Under  my 
cloak  my  hand  had  clutched  my  knife-handle,  but  I 
strove  hard  against  the  fierce,  almost  maddening  im- 
pulse to  pluck  it  out  and  bury  it,  quick  as  lightning, 
in  his  accursed  throat. 

He  continued :  "  Seven  days  before  you  returned 
we  saw  her  in  the  wood.  We  were  always  expecting, 
watching,  always  afraid;  and  when  hunting  we  were 


298  GREEN  MANSIONS 

three  and  four  together.  On  that  day  I  and  three 
others  saw  her.  It  was  in  an  open  place,  where  the 
trees  are  big  and  wide  apart.  We  started  up  and 
chased  her  when  she  ran  from  us,  but  feared  to  shoot. 
And  in  one  moment  she  climbed  up  into  a  small  tree, 
then,  like  a  monkey,  passed  from  its  highest  branches 
into  a  big  tree.  We  could  not  see  her  there,  but  she 
was  there  in  the  big  tree,  for  there  was  no  other  tree 
near — no  way  of  escape.  Three  of  us  sat  down  to 
watch,  and  the  other  went  back  to  the  village.  He 
was  long  gone;  we  were  just  going  to  leave  the  tree, 
fearing  that  she  would  do  us  some  injury,  when  he 
came  back,  and  with  him  all  the  others,  men,  women, 
and  children.  They  brought  axes  and  knives. 
Then  Runi  said,  '  Let  no  one  shoot  an  arrow  into  the 
tree  thinking  to  hit  her,  for  the  arrow  would  be 
caught  in  her  hand  and  thrown  back  at  him.  We 
must  burn  her  in  the  tree ;  there  is  no  way  to  kill 
her  except  by  fire.'  Then  we  went  round  and  round 
looking  up,  but  could  see  nothing;  and  someone  said, 
She  has  escaped,  flying  like  a  bird  from  the  tree; 
but  Runi  answered  that  fire  would  show.  So  we  cut 
down  the  small  tree,  and  lopped  the  branches  off  and 
heaped  them  round  the  big  trunk.  Then,  at  a  dis- 
tance, we  cut  down  ten  more  small  trees,  and  after- 
wards, further  away,  ten  more,  and  then  others,  and 
piled  them  all  round,  tree  after  tree,  until  the  pile 
reached  as  far  from  the  trunk  as  that,"  and  here  he 


GREEN  MANSIONS  299 

pointed  to  a  bush  forty  to  fifty  yards  from  where  we 
sat. 

The  feeling  with  which  I  had  listened  to  this  recital 
had  become  intolerable.  The  sweat  ran  from  me  in 
streams ;  I  shivered  like  a  person  in  a  fit  of  ague,  and 
clenched  my  teeth  together  to  prevent  them  from  rat- 
tling. "  I  must  drink,"  I  said,  cutting  him  short 
and  rising  to  my  feet.  He  also  rose,  but  did  not 
follow  me,  when,  with  uncertain  steps,  I  made  my  way 
to  the  waterside,  which  was  ten  or  twelve  yards  away. 
Lying  prostrate  on  my  chest,  I  took  a  long  draught 
of  clear  cold  water,  and  held  my  face  for  a  few  mo- 
ments in  the  current.  It  sent  a  chill  through  me, 
drying  my  wet  skin,  and  bracing  me  for  the  conclud- 
ing part  of  the  hideous  narrative.  Slowly  I  stepped 
back  to  the  fireside  and  sat  down  again,  while  he  re- 
sumed his  old  place  at  my  side. 

"  You  burnt  the  tree  down,"  I  said.  "  Finish  tell- 
ing me  now  and  let  me  sleep — my  eyes  are  heavy." 

"  Yes.  While  the  men  cut  and  brought  trees,  the 
women  and  children  gathered  dry  stuff  in  the  forest 
and  brought  it  in  their  arms  and  piled  it  round. 
Then  they  set  fire  to  it  on  all  sides,  laughing  and 
shouting,  '  Burn,  burn,  daughter  of  the  Didi ! '  At 
length  all  the  lower  branches  of  the  big  tree  were  on 
fire,  and  the  trunk  was  on  fire,  but  above  it  was  still 
green,  and  we  could  see  nothing.  But  the  flames 
went  up  higher  and  higher  with  a  great  noise ;  and 


800  GREEN  MANSIONS 

at  last  from  the  top  of  the  tree,  out  of  the  green 
leaves,  came  a  great  cry,  like  the  cry  of  a  bird, '  Abel ! 
Abel ! '  and  then  looking  we  saw  something  fall ; 
through  leaves  and  smoke  and  flame  it  fell  like  a 
great  white  bird  killed  with  an  arrow  and  falling  to 
the  earth,  and  fell  into  the  flames  beneath.  And  it 
was  the  daughter  of  the  Didi,  and  she  was  burnt  to 
ashes  like  a  moth  in  the  flames  of  a  fire,  and  no  one 
has  ever  heard  or  seen  her  since." 

It  was  well  for  me  that  he  spoke  rapidly,  and  fin- 
ished quickly.  Even  before  he  had  quite  concluded 
I  drew  my  cloak  round  my  face  and  stretched  myself 
out.  And  I  suppose  that  he  at  once  followed  my 
example,  but  I  had  grown  blind  and  deaf  to  outward 
things  just  then.  My  heart  no  longer  throbbed  vio- 
lently ;  it  fluttered  and  seemed  to  grow  feebler  and 
feebler  in  its  action:  I  remember  that  there  was  a 
dull,  rushing  sound  in  my  ears,  that  I  gasped  for 
breath,  that  my  life  seemed  ebbing  away.  After 
these  horrible  sensations  had  passed,  I  remained 
quiet  for  about  half  an  hour ;  and  during  this  time  the 
picture  of  that  last  act  in  the  hateful  tragedy  grew 
more  and  more  distinct  and  vivid  in  my  mind,  until 
I  seemed  to  be  actually  gazing  on  it,  that  my  ears 
were  filled  with  the  hissing  and  crackling  of  the  fire, 
the  exultant  shouts  of  the  savages,  and  above  all  the 
last  piercing  cry  of  "  Abel !  Abel !  "  from  the  cloud 
of  burning  foliage.  I  could  not  endure  it  longer, 
and  rose  at  last  to  my  feet.     I  glanced  at  Kua-k6 


GREEN  MANSIONS  301 

lying  two  or  three  yards  away,  and  he,  like  the  others, 
was,  or  appeared  to  be,  in  a  deep  sleep ;  he  was  lying 
on  his  back,  and  his  dark  firelit  face  looked  as  still 
and  unconscious  as  a  face  of  stone.  Now  was  my 
chance  to  escape — if  to  escape  was  my  wish.  Yes ; 
for  I  now  possessed  the  coveted  knowledge,  and  noth- 
ing more  was  to  be  gained  by  keeping  with  my  deadly 
enemies.  And  now,  most  fortunately  for  me,  they 
had  brought  me  far  on  the  road  to  that  place  of  the 
five  hills  where  Managa  lived — Managa,  whose  name 
had  been  often  in  my  mind  since  my  return  to  Para- 
huari.  Glancing  away  from  Kua-ko's  still  stone- 
like face,  I  caught  sight  of  that  pale  solitary  star 
which  Runi  had  pointed  out  to  me  low  down  in  the 
northwestern  sky  when  I  had  asked  him  where  his 
enemy  lived.  In  that  direction  we  had  been  travel- 
ling since  leaving  the  village ;  surely  if  I  walked  all 
night  by  to-morrow  I  could  reach  Managa's  hunting- 
ground,  and  be  safe  and  think  over  what  I  had  heard 
and  on  what  I  had  to  do. 

I  moved  softly  away  a  few  steps,  then  thinking 
that  it  would  be  well  to  take  a  spear  in  my  hand,  I 
turned  back,  and  was  surprised  and  startled  to  notice 
that  Kua-ko  had  moved  in  the  interval.  He  had 
turned  over  on  his  side,  and  his  face  was  now  towards 
me.  His  eyes  appeared  closed,  but  he  might  be  only 
feigning  sleep,  and  I  dared  not  go  back  to  pick  up 
the  spear.  After  a  moment's  hesitation  I  moved  on 
again,   and  after  a  second  glance  back  and  seeing 


303  GREEN  MANSIONS 

that  he  did  not  stir,  I  waded  cautiously  across  the 
stream,  walked  softly  twenty  or  thirty  yards,  and 
then  began  to  run.  At  intervals  I  paused  to  listen 
for  a  moment ;  and  presently  I  heard  a  pattering 
sound  as  of  footsteps  coming  swiftly  after  me.  I 
instantly  concluded  that  Kua-ko  had  been  awake  all 
the  time  watching  my  movements,  and  that  he  was 
now  following  me.  I  now  put  forth  my  whole  speed, 
and  while  thus  running  could  distinguish  no  sound. 
That  he  would  miss  me,  for  it  was  very  dark,  al- 
though with  a  starry  sky  above,  was  my  only  hope; 
for  with  no  weapon  except  my  knife  my  chances 
would  be  small  indeed  should  he  overtake  me.  Be- 
sides, he  had  no  doubt  roused  the  others  before  start- 
ing, and  they  would  be  close  behind.  There  were  no 
bushes  in  that  place  to  hide  myself  in  and  let  them 
pass  me ;  and  presently,  to  make  matters  worse,  the 
character  of  the  soil  changed,  and  I  was  running 
over  level  clayey  ground,  so  white  with  a  salt  efflores- 
cence that  a  dark  object  moving  on  it  would  show 
conspicuously  at  a  distance.  Here  I  paused  to  look 
back  and  listen,  when  distinctly  came  the  sound  of 
footsteps,  and  the  next  moment  I  made  out  the  vague 
form  of  an  Indian  advancing  at  a  rapid  rate  of  speed 
and  with  his  uplifted  spear  in  his  hand.  In  the  brief 
pause  I  had  made  he  had  advanced  almost  to  within 
hurling  distance  of  me,  and  turning,  I  sped  on  again, 
throwing  off  my  cloak  to  ease  my  flight.  The  next 
time  I  looked  back  he  was  still  in  sight,  but  not  so 


GREEN  MANSIONS  303 

near;  he  had  stopped  to  pick  up  my  cloak,  which 
would  be  his  now,  and  this  had  given  me  a  slight 
advantage.  I  fled  on,  and  had  continued  running 
for  a  distance  perhaps  of  fifty  yards  when  an  object 
rushed  past  me,  tearing  through  the  flesh  of  my  left 
arm  close  to  the  shoulder  on  its  way ;  and  not  know- 
ing that  I  was  not  badly  wounded  nor  how  near  my 
pursuer  might  be,  I  turned  in  desperation  to  meet 
him,  and  saw  him  not  above  twenty-five  yards  away, 
running  towards  me  with  something  bright  in  his 
hand.  It  was  Kua-ko,  and  after  wounding  me  with 
his  spear  he  was  about  to  finish  me  with  his  knife. 
O  fortunate  young  savage,  after  such  a  victory,  and 
with  that  noble  blue  cloth  cloak  for  trophy  and  cov- 
ering, what  fame  and  happiness  will  be  yours !  A 
change  swift  as  lightning  had  come  over  me,  a  sudden 
exultation.  I  was  wounded,  but  my  right  hand  was 
sound  and  clutched  a  knife  as  good  as  his,  and  we 
were  on  an  equality.  I  waited  for  him  calmly.  All 
weakness,  grief,  despair  had  vanished,  all  feelings  ex- 
cept a  terrible  raging  desire  to  spill  his  accursed 
blood;  and  my  brain  was  clear  and  my  nerves  like 
steel,  and  I  remembered  with  something  like  laugh- 
ter our  old  amusing  encounters  with  rapiers  of  wood. 
Ah,  that  was  only  making  believe  and  childish  play ; 
this  was  reality.  Could  any  white  man,  deprived  of 
his  treacherous,  far-killing  weapon,  meet  the  resolute 
savage,  face  to  face  and  foot  to  foot  and  equal  him 
with  the  old  primitive  weapons?     Poor  youth,  this 


304  GREEN  MANSIONS 

delusion  will  cost  you  dear !  It  was  scarcely  an 
equal  contest  when  he  hurled  himself  against  me, 
with  only  his  savage  strength  and  courage  to  match 
my  skill;  in  a  few  moments  he  was  lying  at  my  feet, 
pouring  out  his  life  blood  on  that  white  thirsty  plain. 
From  his  prostrate  form  I  turned,  the  wet,  red  knife 
in  my  hand,  to  meet  the  others,  still  thinking  that 
they  were  on  the  track  and  close  at  hand.  Why  had 
he  stooped  to  pick  up  the  cloak  if  they  were  not  fol- 
lowing— if  he  had  not  been  afraid  of  losing  it?  I 
turned  only  to  receive  their  spears,  to  die  with  my 
face  to  them ;  nor  was  the  thought  of  death  terrible 
to  me ;  I  could  die  calmly  now  after  killing  my  first 
assailant.  But  had  I  indeed  killed  him?  I  asked, 
hearing  a  sound  like  a  groan  escape  from  his  lips. 
Quickly  stooping  I  once  more  drove  my  weapon  to 
the  hilt  in  his  prostrate  form,  and  when  he  exhaled  a 
deep  sigh,  and  his  frame  quivered,  and  the  blood 
spurted  afresh,  I  experienced  a  feeling  of  savage  joy. 
And  still  no  sound  of  hurrying  footsteps  came  to  my 
listening  ears  and  no  vague  forms  appeared  in  the 
darkness.  I  concluded  that  he  had  either  left  them 
sleeping  or  that  they  had  not  followed  in  the  right 
direction.  Taking  up  the  cloak,  I  was  about  to 
walk  on,  when  I  noticed  the  spear  he  had  thrown  at 
me  lying  where  it  had  fallen  some  yards  away,  and 
picking  that  up  also,  I  went  on  once  more,  still  keep- 
ing the  guiding  star  before  me. 


CHAPTER  XX 

THAT  good  fight  had  been  to  me  like  a  draught 
of  wine,  and  made  me  for  a  while  oblivious  of 
my  loss  and  of  the  pain  from  my  wound.  But  the 
glow  and  feeling  of  exultation  did  not  last:  the  lac- 
erated flesh  smarted;  I  was  weak  from  loss  of  blood, 
and  oppressed  with  sensations  of  fatigue.  If  my 
foes  had  appeared  on  the  scene  they  would  have  made 
an  easy  conquest  of  me ;  but  they  came  not,  and  I 
continued  to  walk  on,  slowly  and  painfully,  pausing 
often  to  rest. 

At  last,  recovering  somewhat  from  my  faint  con- 
dition, and  losing  all  fear  of  being  overtaken,  my 
sorrow  revived  in  full  force,  and  thought  returned  to 
madden  me. 

Alas !  this  bright  being,  like  no  other  in  its  divine 
brightness,  so  long  in  the  making,  now  no  more  than 
a  dead  leaf,  a  little  dust,  lost  and  forgotten  for  ever 
— O  pitiless !     O  cruel ! 

But  I  knew  it  all  before — this  law  of  nature  and  of 
necessity,  against  which  all  revolt  is  idle:  often  had 
the  remembrance  of  it  filled  me  with  ineffable  melan- 
choly ;  only  now  it  seemed  cruel  beyond  all  cruelty. 

Not  nature  the  instrument,  not  the  keen  sword 
305 


306  GREEN  MANSIONS 

that  cuts  into  the  bleeding  tissues,  but  the  hand  that 
wields  it — the  unseen  unknown  something,  or  person, 
that  manifests  itself  in  the  horrible  workings  of  na- 
ture. 

"  Did  you  know,  beloved,  at  the  last,  in  that  in- 
tolerable heat,  in  that  moment  of  supreme  anguish, 
that  he  is  unlistening,  unhelpful  as  the  stars,  that 
you  cried  not  to  him?  To  me  was  your  cry: 
but  your  poor,  frail  fellow-creature  was  not  there  to 
save,  or,  failing  that,  to  cast  himself  into  the  flames 
and  perish  with  you,  hating  God." 

Thus,  in  my  insufferable  pain,  I  spoke  aloud ;  alone 
in  that  solitary  place,  a  bleeding  fugitive  in  the  dark 
night,  looking  up  at  the  stars  I  cursed  the  Author  of 
my  being  and  called  on  Him  to  take  back  the  ab- 
horred gift  of  life. 

Yet,  according  to  my  philosophy,  how  vain  it  was ! 
All  my  bitterness  and  hatred  and  defiance  were  as 
empty,  as  ineffectual,  as  utterly  futile,  as  are  the 
supplications  of  the  meek  worshipper,  and  no  more 
than  the  whisper  of  a  leaf,  the  light  whirr  of  an  in- 
sect's wing.  Whether  I  loved  Him  who  was  over  all, 
as  when  I  thanked  Him  on  my  knees  for  guiding  me 
to  where  I  had  heard  so  sweet  and  mysterious  a  mel- 
ody, or  hated  and  defied  Him  as  now,  it  all  came  from 
Him — love  and  hate,  good  and  evii. 

But  I  know — I  knew  then — that  in  one  thing  my 
philosophy  was  false,  that  it  was  not  the  whole  truth ; 
that  though  my  cries  did  not  touch  nor  come  nea>- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  307 

Him  they  would  yet  hurt  me ;  and,  just  as  a  prisoner 
maddened  at  his  unjust  fate  beats  against  the  stone 
walls  of  his  cell  until  he  falls  back  bruised  and  bleed- 
ing to  the  floor,  so  did  I  wilfully  bruise  my  own  soul, 
and  knew  that  those  wounds  I  gave  myself  would  not 
heal. 

Of  that  night,  the  beginning  of  the  blackest  period 
of  my  life,  I  shall  say  no  more;  and  over  subsequent 
events  I  shall  pass  quickly. 

Morning  found  me  at  a  distance  of  many  miles 
from  the  scene  of  my  duel  with  the  Indian,  in  a 
broken,  hilly  country,  varied  with  savannah  and  open 
forest.  I  was  well-nigh  spent  with  my  long  march, 
and  felt  that  unless  food  was  obtained  before  many 
hours  my  situation  would  be  indeed  desperate. 
With  labour  I  managed  to  climb  to  the  summit  of  a 
hill  about  three  hundred  feet  high,  in  order  to  survey 
the  surrounding  country,  and  found  that  it  was  one 
of  a  group  of  five,  and  conjectured  that  these  were 
the  five  hills  of  Uritay,  and  that  I  was  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Managa's  village.  Coming  down  I  pro- 
ceeded to  the  next  hill,  which  was  higher ;  and  before 
reaching  it  came  to  a  stream  in  a  narrow  valley  divid- 
ing the  hills,  and  proceeding  along  its  banks  in  search 
of  a  crossing-place,  I  came  full  in  sight  of  the  settle- 
ment sought  for.  As  I  approached  people  were  seen 
moving  hurriedly  about;  and  by  the  time  I  arrived, 
walking  slowly  and  painfully,  seven  or  eight  men  were 
standing  before  the  village,  some  with  spears  in  their 


308  GREEN  MANSIONS 

hands,  the  women  and  children  behind  them,  all  star- 
ing curiously  at  me.  Drawing  near  I  cried  out  in  a 
somewhat  feeble  voice  that  I  was  seeking  for  Ma- 
naga;  whereupon  a  grey-haired  man  stepped  forth, 
spear  in  hand,  and  replied  that  he  was  Managa,  and 
demanded  to  know  why  I  sought  him.  I  told  him  a 
part  of  my  story,  enough  to  show  that  I  had  a  deadly 
feud  with  Runi,  that  I  had  escaped  from  him  after 
killing  one  of  his  people. 

I  was  taken  in  and  supplied  with  food ;  my  wound 
was  examined  and  dressed ;  and  then  I  was  permitted 
to  lie  down  and  sleep,  while  Managa,  with  half  a  dozen 
of  his  people,  hurriedly  started  to  visit  the  scene  of 
my  fight  with  Kua-k.6,  not  only  to  verify  my  story, 
but  partly  with  the  hope  of  meeting  Runi.  I  did 
not  see  him  again  until  the  next  morning,  when  he  in- 
formed me  that  he  had  found  the  spot  where  I  had 
been  overtaken,  that  the  dead  man  had  been  discov- 
ered by  the  others  and  carried  back  towards  Para- 
huari.  He  had  followed  the  trace  for  some  distance, 
and  he  was  satisfied  that  Runi  had  come  thus  far  in 
the  first  place  only  with  the  intention  of  spying  on 
him. 

My  arrival,  and  the  strange  tidings  I  had  brought, 
had  thrown  the  village  into  a  great  commotion;  it 
was  evident  that  from  that  time  Managa  lived  in  con- 
stant apprehension  of  a  sudden  attack  from  his  old 
enemy.  This  gave  me  great  satisfaction ;  it  was  mj 
study  to  keep  the  feeling  alive,  and,  more  than  that, 


GREEN  MANSIONS  309 

to  drop  continual  hints  of  his  enemy's  secret  mur- 
derous purpose,  until  he  was  wrought  up  to  a  kind  of 
frenzy  of  mingled  fear  and  rage.  And  being  of  a 
suspicious  and  somewhat  truculent  temper,  he  one 
day  all  at  once  turned  on  me  as  the  immediate  cause 
of  his  miserable  state,  suspecting  perhaps  that  I  only 
wished  to  make  an  instrument  of  him.  But  I  was 
strangely  bold  and  careless  of  danger  then,  and  only 
mocked  at  his  rage,  telling  him  proudly  that  I  feared 
him  not;  that  Runi,  his  mortal  enemy  and  mine, 
feared  not  him  but  me ;  that  Runi  knew  perfectly  well 
where  I  had  taken  refuge  and  would  not  venture  to 
make  his  meditated  attack  while  I  remained  in  his  vil- 
lage, but  would  wait  for  my  departure.  "  Kill  me, 
Managa,"  I  cried,  smiting  my  chest  as  I  stood  facing 
him.  "  Kill  me,  and  the  result  will  be  that  he  will 
come  upon  you  unawares  and  murder  you  all,  as  he 
has  resolved  to  do  sooner  or  later." 

After  that  speech  he  glared  at  me  in  silence,  then 
flung  down  the  spear  he  had  snatched  up  in  his  sud- 
den rage  and  stalked  out  of  the  house  and  into  the 
wood,  but  before  long  he  was  back  again  seated  in 
his  old  place,  brooding  on  my  words  with  a  face  black 
as  night. 

It  is  painful  to  recall  that  secret  dark  chapter  of 
my  life — that  period  of  moral  insanity.  But  I  wish 
not  to  be  a  hypocrite,  conscious  or  unconscious, 
to  delude  myself  or  another  with  this  plea  of  insan- 
ity.    My  mind  was  very  clear  just  then;  past  and 


810  GREEN  MANSIONS 

present  were  clear  to  me;  the  future  clearest  of  all: 
I  could  measure  the  extent  of  my  action  and  speculate 
on  its  future  effect,  and  my  sense  of  right  or  wrong — 
of  individual  responsibility — was  more  vivid  than  at 
any  other  period  of  my  life.  Can  I  even  say  that  I 
was  blinded  by  passion?  Driven,  perhaps,  but  cer- 
tainly not  blinded.  For  no  reaction,  or  submission, 
had  followed  on  that  furious  revolt  against  the  un- 
known being,  personal  or  not,  that  is  behind  nature, 
in  whose  existence  I  believed.  I  was  still  in  revolt: 
T  would  hate  Him,  and  show  my  hatred  by  being  like 
Him,  as  He  appears  to  us  reflected  in  that  mirror  of 
Nature.  Had  He  given  me  good  gifts — the  sense  of 
right  and  wrong  and  sweet  humanity?  The  beauti- 
ful sacred  flower  He  had  caused  to  grow  in  me  I 
would  crush  ruthlessly;  its  beauty  and  fragrance  and 
grace  would  be  dead  for  ever ;  there  was  nothing  evil, 
nothing  cruel  and  contrary  to  my  nature,  that  I 
would  not  be  guilty  of,  glorying  in  my  guilt.  This 
was  not  the  temper  of  a  few  days :  I  remained  for 
close  upon  two  months  at  Managa's  village,  never 
repenting  nor  desisting  in  my  efforts  to  induce  the 
Indians  to  join  me  in  that  most  barbarous  adventure 
on  which  my  heart  was  set. 

I  succeeded  in  the  end :  it  would  have  been  strange 
if  I  had  not.  The  horrible  details  need  not  be  given. 
Managa  did  not  wait  for  his  enemy,  but  fell  on  him 
unexpectedly,  an  hour  after  nightfall  in  his  own  vil- 
lage.     If  I  had  really  been  insane  during  those  two 


GREEN  MANSIONS  311 

months,  if  some  cloud  had  been  on  me,  some  demonia- 
cal force  dragging  me  on,  the  cloud  and  insanity  van- 
ished and  the  constraint  was  over  in  one  moment, 
when  that  hellish  enterprise  was  completed.  It  was 
the  sight  of  an  old  woman,  lying  where  she  had  been 
struck  down,  the  fire  of  the  blazing  house  lighting 
her  wide-open  glassy  eyes  and  white  hair  dabbled  in 
blood,  which  suddenly,  as  by  a  miracle,  wrought  this 
change  in  my  brain.  For  they  were  all  dead  at  last, 
old  and  young,  all  who  had  lighted  the  fire  round  that 
great  green  tree  in  which  Rima  had  taken  refuge,  who 
had  danced  round  the  blaze,  shouting,  "  Burn ! 
burn !  " 

At  the  moment  my  glance  fell  on  that  prostrate 
form,  I  paused  and  stood  still,  trembling  like  a  per- 
son struck  with  a  sudden  pang  in  the  heart,  who 
thinks  that  his  last  moment  has  come  to  him  una- 
wares. After  a  while  I  slunk  away  out  of  the  great 
circle  of  firelight  into  the  thick  darkness  beyond. 
Instinctively  I  turned  towards  the  forests  across  the 
savannah — my  forest  again;  and  fled  away  from  the 
noise  and  the  sight  of  flames,  never  pausing  until  I 
found  myself  within  the  black  shadow  of  the  trees. 
Into  the  deeper  blackness  of  the  interior  I  dared 
not  venture:  on  the  border  I  paused  to  ask  myself 
what  I  did  there  alone  in  the  night  time.  Sitting 
down  I  covered  my  face  with  my  hands  as  if  to  hide 
it  more  effectually  than  it  could  be  hidden  by  night 
and  the  forest  shadows.     What  horrible  thing — what 


312  GREEN  MANSIONS 

calamity  that  frightened  my  soul  to  think  of,  had 
fallen  on  me?  The  revulsion  of  feeling,  the  unspeak- 
able horror,  the  remorse,  was  more  than  I  could  bear. 
I  started  up  with  a  cry  of  anguish,  and  would  have 
slain  myself  to  escape  at  that  moment ;  but  Nature  is 
not  always  and  utterly  cruel,  and  on  this  occasion 
she  came  to  my  aid.  Consciousness  forsook  me,  and 
I  lived  not  again  until  the  light  of  early  morning  was 
in  the  east ;  then  found  myself  lying  on  the  wet  herb- 
age— wet  with  rain  that  had  lately  fallen.  My  phys- 
ical misery  was  now  so  great  that  it  prevented  me 
from  dwelling  on  the  scenes  witnessed  on  the  previous 
evening.  Nature  was  again  merciful  in  this.  I  only 
remembered  that  it  was  necessary  to  hide  myself,  in 
case  the  Indians  should  be  still  in  the  neighbourhood 
and  pay  the  wood  a  visit.  Slowly  and  painfully  I 
crept  away  into  the  forest,  and  there  sat  for  several 
hours,  scarcely  thinking  at  all,  in  a  half-stupefied 
condition.  At  noon  the  sun  shone  out  and  dried  the 
wood.  I  felt  no  hunger,  only  a  vague  sense  of  bodily 
misery,  and  with  it  the  fear  that  if  I  left  my  hiding- 
place  I  might  meet  some  human  creature  face  to  face. 
This  fear  prevented  me  from  stirring  until  the  twi- 
light came,  when  I  crept  forth  and  made  my  way  to 
the  border  of  the  forest,  to  spend  the  night  there. 
Whether  sleep  visited  me  during  the  dark  hours  or 
not  I  cannot  say :  day  and  night  my  condition  seemed 
the  same ;  I  experienced  only  a  dull  sensation  of  utter 
misery  which  seemed  in  spirit  and  flesh  alike,  an  in- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  318 

ability  to  think  clearly,  or  for  more  than  a  few 
moments  consecutively,  about  anything.  Scenes  in 
which  I  had  been  principal  actor  came  and  went,  as 
in  a  dream  when  the  will  slumbers :  now  with  devilish 
ingenuity  and  persistence  I  was  working  on  Managa's 
mind ;  now  standing  motionless  in  the  forest  listening 
for  that  sweet,  mysterious  melody ;  now  staring 
aghast  at  old  Cla-cla's  wide-open  glassy  eyes  and 
white  hair  dabbled  in  blood;  then  suddenly,  in  the 
cave  at  Riolama,  I  was  fondly  watching  the  slow 
return  to  life  and  colour  to  Xtima's  still  face. 

When  morning  came  again  I  felt  so  weak  that  a 
vague  fear  of  sinking  down  and  dying  of  hunger  at 
last  roused  me  and  sent  me  forth  in  quest  of  food. 
I  moved  slowly  and  my  eyes  were  dim  to  see,  but  I 
knew  so  well  where  to  seek  for  small  morsels — small 
edible  roots  and  leaf-stalks,  berries,  and  drops  of 
congealed  gum — that  it  would  have  been  strange  in 
that  rich  forest  if  I  had  not  been  able  to  discover 
something  to  stay  my  famine.  It  was  little,  but  it 
sufficed  for  the  day.  Once  more  Nature  was  merciful 
to  me;  for  that  diligent  seeking  among  the  conceal- 
ing leaves  left  no  interval  for  thought;  every  chance 
morsel  gave  a  momentary  pleasure,  and  as  I  pro- 
longed my  search  my  steps  grew  firmer,  the  dimness 
passed  from  my  eyes.  I  was  more  forgetful  of  self, 
more  eager,  and  like  a  wild  animal  with  no  thought  or 
feeling  beyond  its  immediate  wants.  Fatigued  at  the 
end,  I  fell  asleep  as  soon  as  darkness  brought  my 


314  GREEN  MANSIONS 

busy  rambles  to  a  close,  and  did  not  wake  until  an- 
other morning  dawned. 

M j  hunger  was  extreme  now.  The  wailing  notes 
of  a  pair  of  small  birds,  persistently  flitting  round 
me,  or  perched  with  gaping  bills  and  wings  trembling 
with  agitation,  served  to  remind  me  that  it  was  now 
breeding-time ;  also  that  Rima  had  taught  me  to  find 
a  small  bird's-nest.  She  found  them  only  to  delight 
her  eyes  with  the  sight;  but  they  would  be  food  for 
me ;  the  crystal  and  yellow  fluid  in  the  gem-like,  white 
or  blue  or  red-speckled  shells  would  help  to  keep  me 
alive.  All  day  I  hunted,  listening  to  every  note  and 
cry,  watching  the  motions  of  every  winged  thing,  and 
found,  besides  gums  and  fruits,  over  a  score  of  nests 
containing  eggs,  mostly  of  small  birds,  and  although 
the  labour  was  great  and  the  scratches  many,  I  was 
well  satisfied  with  the  result. 

A  few  days  later  I  found  a  supply  of  Haima  gum, 
and  eagerly  began  picking  it  from  the  tree ;  not  that 
it  could  be  used,  but  the  thought  of  the  brilliant  light 
it  gave  was  so  strong  in  my  mind  that  mechanically  I 
gathered  it  all.  The  possession  of  this  gum,  when 
night  closed  round  me  again,  produced  in  me  an  in- 
tense longing  for  artificial  light  and  warmth.  The 
darkness  was  harder  than  ever  to  endure.  I  envied 
the  fireflies  their  natural  lights,  and  ran  about  in  the 
dusk  to  capture  a  few  and  hold  them  in  the  hollow  of 
my  two  hands,  for  the  sake  of  their  cold,  fitful  flashes. 
On  the  following  day  I  wasted  two  or  three  hour* 


GREEN  MANSIONS  315 

trying  to  get  fire  in  the  primitive  method  with  dry 
wood,  but  failed,  and  lost  much  time,  and  suffered 
more  than  ever  from  hunger  in  consequence.  Yet 
there  was  fire  in  everything;  even  when  I  struck  at 
hard  wood  with  my  knife  sparks  were  emitted.  If  I 
could  only  arrest  those  wonderful  heat  and  light- 
giving  sparks!  And  all  at  once,  as  if  I  had  just 
lighted  upon  some  new,  wonderful  truth,  it  occurred 
to  me  that  with  my  steel  hunting-knife  and  a  piece  of 
flint  fire  could  be  obtained.  Immediately  I  set  about 
preparing  tinder  with  dry  moss,  rotten  wood,  and  wild 
cotton;  and  in  a  short  time  I  had  the  wished  fire, 
and  heaped  wood  dry  and  green  on  it  to  make  it  large. 
I  nursed  it  well,  and  spent  the  night  beside  it ;  and  it 
also  served  to  roast  some  huge  white  grubs  which  I 
had  found  in  the  rotten  wood  of  a  prostrate  trunk. 
The  sight  of  these  great  grubs  had  formerly  dis- 
gusted me;  but  they  tasted  good  to  me  now,  and 
stayed  my  hunger,  and  that  was  all  I  looked  for  in 
my  wild  forest  food. 

For  a  long  time  an  undefined  feeling  prevented  me 
from  going  near  the  site  of  Nuflo's  burnt  lodge.  I 
went  there  at  last ;  and  the  first  thing  I  did  was  to  go 
all  round  the  fatal  spot,  cautiously  peering  into  the 
rank  herbage,  as  if  I  feared  a  lurking  serpent ;  and  at 
length,  at  some  distance  from  the  blackened  heap,  I 
discovered  a  human  skeleton,  and  knew  it  to  be  Nu- 
flo's. In  his  day  he  had  been  a  great  armadillo 
hunter,  and  these  quaint  carrion  eaters  had  no  doubt 


316  GREEN  MANSIONS 

revenged  themselves  by  devouring  his  flesh  when  they 
found  him  dead — killed  by  the  savages. 

Having  once  returned  to  this  spot  of  many  memo- 
ries, I  could  not  quit  it  again ;  while  my  wild  wood- 
land life  lasted  here  must  I  have  my  lair,  and  being 
here  I  could  not  leave  that  mournful  skeleton  above 
ground.  With  labour  I  excavated  a  pit  to  bury  it, 
careful  not  to  cut  or  injure  a  broad-leafed  creeper 
that  had  begun  to  spread  itself  over  the  spot;  and 
after  refilling  the  hole  I  drew  the  long,  trailing  stems 
over  the  mound. 

"  Sleep  well,  old  man,"  said  I,  when  my  work  was 
done ;  and  these  few  words,  implying  neither  censure 
nor  praise,  was  all  the  burial  service  that  old  Nuflo 
had  from  me. 

I  then  visited  the  spot  where  the  old  man,  assistea 
by  me,  had  concealed  his  provisions  before  starting 
for  Riolama,  and  was  pleased  to  find  that  it  had  not 
been  discovered  by  the  Indians.  Besides  the  store  of 
tobacco-leaf,  maize,  pumpkin,  potatoes,  and  cassava- 
bread,  and  the  cooking  utensils,  I  found  among  other 
things  a  chopper — a  great  acquisition,  since  with  it 
I  would  be  able  to  cut  down  small  palms  and  bamboos 
to  make  myself  a  hut. 

The  possession  of  a  supply  of  food  left  me  time 
for  many  things :  time  in  the  first  place  to  make  my 
own  conditions ;  doubtless  after  them  there  would  be 
further  progression  on  the  old  lines — luxuries  added 
to  necessaries ;  a  healthful,  fruitful  life  of  thought 


GREEN  MANSIONS  317 

and  action  combined ;  and  at  last  a  peaceful,  contem- 
plative old  age. 

I  cleared  away  ashes  and  rubbish,  and  marked  out 
the  very  spot  where  Rima's  separate  bower  had  been 
for  my  habitation,  which  I  intended  to  make  small. 
In  five  days  it  was  finished ;  then  after  lighting  a  fire, 
I  stretched  myself  out  in  my  dry  bed  of  moss  and 
leaves  with  a  feeling  that  was  almost  triumphant. 
Let  the  rain  now  fall  in  torrents,  putting  out  the 
firefly's  lamp ;  let  the  wind  and  thunder  roar  their 
loudest,  and  the  lightnings  smite  the  earth  with  in- 
tolerable light,  frightening  the  poor  monkeys  in  their 
wet,  leafy  habitations,  little  would  I  heed  it  all  on 
my  dry  bed,  under  my  dry,  palm-leaf  thatch,  with 
glorious  fire  to  keep  me  company  and  protect  me 
from  my  ancient  enemy,  Darkness. 

From  that  first  sleep  under  shelter  I  woke  re- 
freshed, and  was  not  driven  by  the  cruel  spur  of  hun- 
ger into  the  wet  forest.  The  wished  time  had  come 
of  rest  from  labour,  of  leisure  for  thought.  Resting 
here,  just  where  she  had  rested,  night  by  night  clasp- 
ing a  visionary  mother  in  her  arms,  whispering  ten- 
derest  words  in  a  visionary  ear,  I  too  now  clasped  her 
in  my  arms — a  visionary  Rima.  How  different  the 
nights  had  seemed  when  I  was  without  shelter,  before 
I  had  rediscovered  fire!  How  had  I  endured  it? 
That  strange  ghostly  gloom  of  the  woods  at  night- 
time full  of  innumerable  strange  shapes ;  still  and 
dark,  yet  with  something  seen  at  times  moving  amidst 


318  GREEN  MANSIONS 

them,  dark  and  vague  and  strange  also — an  owl,  per- 
haps, or  bat,  or  great  winged  moth,  or  nightjar. 
Nor  had  I  any  choice  then  but  to  listen  to  the  night- 
sounds  of  the  forest;  and  they  were  various  as  the 
day-sounds,  and  for  every  day-sound,  from  the  faint- 
est lisping  and  softest  trill  to  the  deep  boomings  and 
piercing  cries,  there  was  an  analogue ;  always  with 
something  mysterious,  unreal  in  its  tone,  something 
proper  to  the  night.  They  were  ghostly  sounds,  ut- 
tered by  the  ghosts  of  dead  animals ;  they  were  a 
hundred  different  things  by  turns,  but  always  with  a 
meaning  in  them,  which  I  vainly  strove  to  catch — 
something  to  be  interpreted  only  by  a  sleeping  fac- 
ulty in  us,  lightly  sleeping,  and  now,  now  on  the  very 
point  of  awaking! 

Now  the  gloom  and  the  mystery  was  shut  out ;  now 
I  had  that  which  stood  in  the  place  of  pleasure  to 
me,  and  was  more  than  pleasure.  It  was  a  mournful 
rapture  to  lie  awake  now,  wishing  not  for  sleep  and 
oblivion,  hating  the  thought  of  daylight  that  would 
come  at  last  to  drown  and  scare  away  my  vision.  To 
be  with  Rima  again — my  lost  Rima  recovered — mine, 
mine  at  last !  No  longer  the  old  vexing  doubt  now — 
"  You  are  you  and  I  am  I — why  is  it  ?  " — the  ques- 
tion asked  when  our  souls  were  near  together,  like  two 
raindrops  side  by  side,  drawing  irresistibly  nearer, 
ever  nearer:  for  now  they  had  touched  and  were  not 
two,  but  one  inseparable  drop,  crystallised  beyond 


GREEN  MANSIONS  319 

change,  not  to  be  disintegrated  by  time,  nor  shattered 
by  death's  blow,  nor  resolved  by  any  alchemy. 

I  had  other  company  besides  this  unfailing  vision, 
and  the  bright  dancing  fire  that  talked  to  me  in  its 
fantastic  fire  language.  It  was  my  custom  to  secure 
the  door  well  on  retiring:  grief  had  perhaps  chilled 
my  blood,  for  I  suffered  less  from  heat  than  from  cold 
at  this  period,  and  the  fire  seemed  grateful  all  night 
long;  I  was  also  anxious  to  exclude  all  small  winged 
and  creeping  night-wanderers.  But  to  exclude  them 
entirely  proved  impossible:  through  a  dozen  invisible 
chinks  they  would  find  their  way  to  me ;  also  some 
entered  by  day  to  lie  concealed  until  after  nightfall. 
A  monstrous  hairy  hermit  spider  found  an  asylum  in 
a  dusky  corner  of  the  hut,  under  the  thatch,  and  day 
after  day  he  was  there,  all  day  long,  sitting  close 
and  motionless ;  but  at  dark  he  invariably  disap- 
peared— who  knows  on  what  murderous  errand !  His 
hue  was  a  deep  dead-leaf  yellow,  with  a  black  and 
grey  pattern,  borrowed  from  some  wild  cat;  and  so 
large  was  he  that  his  great  outspread  hairy  legs,  ra- 
diating from  the  flat  disc  of  his  body,  would  have 
covered  a  man's  open  hand.  It  was  easy  to  see  him 
in  my  small  interior ;  often  in  the  night-time  my  eyes 
would  stray  to  his  corner,  never  to  encounter  that 
strange  hairy  figure ;  but  daylight  failed  not  to  bring 
him.  He  troubled  me ;  but  now,  for  Rima's  sake,  I 
could  slay  no  living  thing  except  from  motives  of 


320  GREEN  MANSIONS 

hunger.  I  had  it  in  my  mind  to  injure  him — to 
strike  off  one  of  his  legs,  which  would  not  be  missed 
much,  as  they  were  many — so  as  to  make  him  go 
away  and  return  no  more  to  so  inhospitable  a  place. 
But  courage  failed  me.  He  might  come  stealthily 
back  at  night  to  plunge  his  long,  crooked  falces  into 
my  throat,  poisoning  my  blood  with  fever  and  delir- 
ium and  black  death.  So  I  left  him  alone,  and 
glanced  furtively  and  fearfully  at  him,  hoping  that 
he  had  not  divined  any  thoughts ;  thus  we  lived  on 
unsocially  together.  More  companionable,  but  still 
in  an  uncomfortable  way,  were  the  large  crawling, 
running  insects — crickets,  beetles,  and  others.  They 
were  shapely  and  black  and  polished,  and  ran  about 
here  and  there  on  the  floor,  just  like  intelligent  little 
horseless  carriages ;  then  they  would  pause  with  their 
immovable  eyes  fixed  on  me,  seeing,  or  in  some  mys- 
terious way  divining  my  presence ;  their  pliant  horns 
waving  up  and  down,  like  delicate  instruments  used 
to  test  the  air.  Centipedes  and  millipedes  in  dozens 
came  too,  and  were  not  welcome.  I  feared  not  their 
venom,  but  it  was  a  weariness  to  see  them;  for  they 
seemed  no  living  things,  but  the  vertebrae  of  snakes 
and  eels  and  long  slim  fishes,  dead  and  desiccated^ 
made  to  move  mechanically  over  walls  and  floor  by 
means  of  some  jugglery  of  nature.  I  grew  skilful  at 
picking  them  up  with  a  pair  of  pliant  green  twigs,  to 
thrust  them  into  the  outer  darkness. 

One  night  a  moth  fluttered  in  and  alighted  on  my 


GREEN  MANSIONS  S21 

hand  as  I  sat  by  the  fire,  causing  me  to  hold  my 
breath  as  I  gazed  on  it.  Its  fore  wings  were  pale 
grey,  with  shadings  dark  and  light  written  all  over  in 
finest  characters  with  some  twilight  mystery  or  leg- 
end; but  the  round  underwings  were  clear  amber- 
yellow,  veined  like  a  leaf  with  red  and  purple  veins ;  a 
thing  of  such  exquisite  chaste  beauty  that  the  sight 
of  it  gave  me  a  sudden  shock  of  pleasure.  Very  soon 
it  flew  up  circling  about,  and  finally  lighted  on  the 
palm-leaf  thatch  directly  over  the  fire.  The  heat,  I 
thought,  would  soon  drive  it  from  the  spot ;  and,  ris- 
ing, I  opened  the  door,  so  that  it  might  find  its  way 
out  again  into  its  own  cool,  dark,  flowery  world. 
And  standing  by  the  open  door  I  turned  and  ad- 
dressed it :  "  O  night-wanderer  of  the  pale,  beauti- 
ful wings,  go  forth,  and  should  you  by  chance  meet 
her  somewhere  in  the  shadowy  depths,  revisiting  her 

old  haunts,  be  my  messenger "     Thus  much  had 

I  spoken,  when  the  frail  thing  loosened  its  hold  to  fall 
without  a  flutter,  straight  and  swift,  into  the  white 
blaze  beneath.  I  sprang  forward  with  a  shriek,  and 
stood  staring  into  the  fire,  my  whole  frame  trembling 
with  a  sudden,  terrible  emotion.  Even  thus  had 
Rima  fallen — fallen  from  the  great  height — into  the 
flames  that  instantly  consumed  her  beautiful  flesh 
and  bright  spirit !     O  cruel  Nature ! 

A  moth  that  perished  in  the  flame;  an  indistinct 
faint  sound ;  a  dream  in  the  night ;  the  semblance  of  a 
shadowy  form  moving  mist-like  in  the  twilight  gloom 


m%  GREEN  MANSIONS 

of  the  forest,  would  suddenly  bring  back  a  vivid  mem- 
ory, the  old  anguish,  to  break  for  a  while  the  calm  of 
that  period.  It  was  calm  then  after  the  storm. 
Nevertheless,  my  health  deteriorated.  I  ate  little 
and  slept  little  and  grew  thin  and  weak.  When  I 
looked  down  on  the  dark,  glassy  forest  pool,  where 
Rima  would  look  no  more  to  see  herself  so  much  bet- 
ter than  in  the  small  mirror  of  her  lover's  pupil,  it 
showed  me  a  gaunt,  ragged  man  with  a  tangled  mass 
of  black  hair  falling  over  his  shoulders,  the  bones  of 
his  face  showing  through  the  dead-looking,  sun- 
parched  skin,  the  sunken  eyes  with  a  gleam  in  them 
that  was  like  insanity. 

To  see  this  reflection  had  a  strangely  disturbing 
effect  on  me.  A  torturing  voice  would  whisper  in 
my  ear :  "  Yes,  you  are  evidently  going  mad.  By- 
and-by  you  will  rush  howling  through  the  forest, 
only  to  drop  down  at  last  and  die:  and  no  person 
will  ever  find  and  bury  your  bones.  Old  Nuflo  was 
more  fortunate  in  that  he  perished  first." 

"  A  lying  voice ! "  I  retorted  in  sudden  anger. 
"  My  faculties  were  never  keener  than  now.  Not  a 
fruit  can  ripen  but  I  find  it.  If  a  small  bird  darts 
by  with  a  feather  or  straw  in  its  bill  I  mark  its  flight, 
and  it  will  be  a  lucky  bird  if  I  do  not  find  its  nest  in 
the  end.  Could  a  savage  born  in  the  forest  do  more? 
He  would  starve  where  I  find  food !  " 

"  Ay,  yes,  there  is  nothing  wonderful  in  that," 
answered    the   voice.     "  The    stranger    from    a    cold 


GREEN  MANSIONS  323 

country  suffers  less  from  the  heat,  when  days  are 
hottest,  than  the  Indian  who  knows  no  other  climate. 
But  mark  the  result!  The  stranger  dies,  while  the 
Indian,  sweating  and  gasping  for  breath,  survives. 
In  like  manner  the  low-minded  savage,  cut  off  from 
all  human  fellowship,  keeps  his  faculties  to  the  end, 
while  you**  finer  brain  proves  your  ruin." 

I  cut  from  a  tree  a  score  of  long,  blunt  thorns, 
tough  and  black  as  whalebone,  and  drove  them 
through  a  strip  of  wood  in  which  I  had  burnt  a  row 
of  holes  to  receive  them,  and  made  myself  a  comb, 
and  combed  out  my  long,  tangled  hair  to  improve  my 
appearance. 

"  It  is  not  the  tangled  condition  of  your  hair," 
persisted  the  voice,  "  but  your  eyes,  so  wild  and 
strange  in  their  expression,  that  show  the  approach 
of  madness.  Make  your  locks  as  smooth  as  you  like, 
and  add  a  garland  of  those  scarlet,  star-shaped  blos- 
soms hanging  from  the  bush  behind  you — crown 
yourself  as  you  crowned  old  Cla-cla — but  the  crazed 
look  will  remain  just  the  same." 

And  being  no  longer  able  to  reply,  rage  and  des- 
peration drove  me  to  an  act  which  only  seemed  to 
prove  that  the  hateful  voice  had  prophesied  truly. 
Taking  up  a  stone  I  hurled  it  down  on  the  water  to 
shatter  the  image  I  saw  there,  as  if  it  had  been  no 
faithful  reflection  of  myself,  but  a  travesty,  cun- 
ningly made  of  enamelled  clay  or  some  other  material, 
and  put  there  by  some  malicious  enemy  to  mock  me. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

"ANY  days  had  passed  since  the  hut  was  made 
— how  many  may  not  be  known,  since  I 
notched  no  stick  and  knotted  no  cord — yet  never  in 
my  rambles  in  the  wood  had  I  seen  that  desolate  ash- 
heap  where  the  fire  had  done  its  work.  Nor  had  I 
looked  for  it.  On  the  contrary,  my  wish  was  never 
to  see  it,  and  the  fear  of  coming  accidentally  upon  it 
made  me  keep  to  the  old  familiar  paths.  But  at 
length,  one  night,  without  thinking  of  Rima's  fear- 
ful end,  it  all  at  once  occurred  to  me  that  the  hated 
savage,  whose  blood  I  had  shed  on  the  white  savan- 
nah, might  have  only  been  practising  his  natural  de- 
ceit when  he  told  me  that  most  pitiful  story.  If  that 
were  so — if  he  had  been  prepared  with  a  fictitious 
account  of  her  death  to  meet  my  questions — then 
Rima  might  still  exist:  lost,  perhaps,  wandering  in 
some  distant  place,  exposed  to  perils  day  and  night, 
and  unable  to  find  her  way  back,  but  living  still ! 
Living!  her  heart  on  fire  with  the  hope  of  reunion 
with  me,  cautiously  threading  her  way  through  the 
undergrowth  of  immeasurable  forests ;  spying  out  the 
distant  villages  and  hiding  herself  from  the  sight  of 
all  men,  as  she  knew  so  well  how  to  hide ;  studying 

the  outlines  of  distant  mountains,  to  recognise  some 

324 


GREEN  MANSIONS  325 

familiar  landmark  at  last,  and  so  find  her  way  back 
to  the  old  wood  once  more!  Even  now,  while  I  sat 
there  idly  musing,  she  might  be  somewhere  in  the 
wood — somewhere  near  me;  but  after  so  long  an  ab- 
sence full  of  apprehension,  waiting  in  concealment 
for  what  to-morrow's  light  might  show. 

I  started  up  and  replenished  the  fire  with  trem- 
bling hands,  then  set  the  door  open  to  let  the  wel- 
coming stream  out  into  the  wood.  But  Rima  had 
done  more;  going  out  into  the  black  forest  in  the 
pitiless  storm,  she  had  found  and  led  me  home. 
Could  I  do  less!  I  was  quickly  out  in  the  shadows 
of  the  wood.  Surely  it  was  more  than  a  mere  hope 
that  made  my  heart  beat  so  wildly !  How  could  a 
sensation  so  strangely  sudden,  so  irresistible  in  its 
power,  possess  me  unless  she  were  living  and  near? 
Can  it  be,  can  it  be  that  we  shall  meet  again?  To 
look  again  into  your  divine  eyes — to  hold  you  again 
in  my  arms  at  last!  I  so  changed — so  different! 
But  the  old  love  remains ;  and  of  all  that  has  hap- 
pened in  your  absence  I  shall  tell  you  nothing — not 
one  word;  all  shall  be  forgotten  now — sufferings, 
madness,  crime,  remorse !  Nothing  shall  ever  vex 
you  again — not  Nuflo,  who  vexed  you  every  day ;  for 
he  is  dead  now — murdered,  only  I  shall  not  say  that 
— and  I  have  decently  buried  his  poor  old  sinful 
bones.  We  alone  together  in  the  wood — our  wood 
now !  The  sweet  old  days  again ;  for  I  know  that 
you  would  not  have  it  different,  nor  would  I. 


326  GREEN  MANSIONS 

Thus  I  talked  to  myself,  mad  with  the  thoughts 
of  the  joy  that  would  soon  be  mine;  and  at  intervals 
I  stood  still  and  made  the  forest  echo  with  my  calls. 
"  Rima !  Rima ! "  I  called  again  and  again,  and 
waited  for  some  response ;  and  heard  only  the  famil- 
iar night-sounds — voices  of  insect  and  bird  and  tin- 
kling tree-frog,  and  a  low  murmur  in  the  topmost  foli- 
age, moved  by  some  light  breath  of  wind  unfelt  below. 
I  was  drenched  with  dew,  bruised  and  bleeding  from 
falls  in  the  dark,  and  from  rocks  and  thorns  and 
rough  branches,  but  had  felt  nothing;  gradually  the 
excitement  burnt  itself  out ;  I  was  hoarse  with  shout- 
ing and  ready  to  drop  down  with  fatigue,  and  hope 
was  dead:  and  at  length  I  crept  back  to  my  hut,  to 
cast  myself  on  my  grass  bed  and  sink  into  a  dull, 
miserable,  desponding  stupor. 

But  on  the  following  morning  I  was  out  once  more, 
determined  to  search  the  forest  well ;  since,  if  no  evi- 
dence of  the  great  fire  Kua-ko  had  described  to  me 
existed,  it  would  still  be  possible  to  believe  that  he 
had  lied  to  me,  and  that  Rima  lived.  I  searched  all 
day  and  found  nothing;  but  the  area  was  large,  and 
to  search  it  thoroughly  would  require  several  days. 

On  the  third  day  I  discovered  the  fatal  spot,  and 
knew  that  never  again  would  I  behold  Rima  in  the 
flesh,  that  my  last  hope  had  indeed  been  a  vain  one. 
There  could  be  no  mistake:  just  such  an  open  place 
as  the  Indian  had  pictured  to  me  was  here,  with  giant 
trees  standing  apart;  while  one  tree  stood  killed  and 


GREEN  MANSIONS  827 

blackened  by  fire,  surrounded  by  a  huge  heap,  sixty 
or  seventy  yards  across,  of  prostrate  charred  tree- 
trunks  and  ashes.  Here  and  there  slender  plants 
had  sprung  up  through  the  ashes,  and  the  omnipres- 
ent small-leaved  creepers  were  beginning  to  throw 
their  pale  green  embroidery  over  the  blackened 
trunks.  I  looked  long  at  the  vast  funeral  tree  that 
had  a  buttressed  girth  of  not  less  than  fifty  feet,  and 
rose  straight  as  a  ship's  mast,  with  its  top  about  a 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  from  the  earth.  What  a  dis- 
tance to  fall,  through  burning  leaves  and  smoke,  like 
a  white  bird  shot  dead  with  a  poisoned  arrow,  swift 
and  straight  into  that  sea  of  flame  below!  How 
cruel  imagination  was  to  turn  that  desolate  ash-heap, 
in  spite  of  feathery  foliage  and  embroidery  of  creep- 
ers, into  roaring  leaping  flames  again — to  bring 
those  dead  savages  back,  men,  women,  and  children 
— even  the  little  ones  I  had  played  with — to  set  them 
yelling  around  me,  "  Burn !  burn !  "  Oh,  no  this 
damnable  spot  must  not  be  her  last  resting-place! 
If  the  fire  had  not  utterly  consumed  her,  bones  as  well 
as  sweet  tender  flesh,  shrivelling  her  like  a  frail  white- 
winged  moth  into  the  finest  white  ashes,  mixed  insep- 
arably with  the  ashes  of  stems  and  leaves  innumera- 
ble, then  whatever  remained  of  her  must  be  conveyed 
elsewhere  to  be  with  me,  to  mingle  with  my  ashes  at 
last. 

Having  resolved   to   sift   and   examine   the   entire 
heap,    I    at   once   set   about   my   task.     If   she   had 


328  GREEN  MANSIONS 

climbed  into  the  central  highest  branch,  and  had 
fallen  straight,  then  she  would  have  dropped  into  the 
flames  not  far  from  the  roots ;  and  so  to  begin  I  made 
a  path  to  the  trunk,  and  when  darkness  overtook  me 
I  had  worked  all  round  the  tree,  in  a  width  of  three 
to  four  yards,  without  discovering  any  remains.  At 
noon  on  the  following  day  I  found  the  skeleton,  or,  at 
all  events,  the  larger  bones,  rendered  so  fragile  by 
the  fierce  heat  they  had  been  subjected  to,  that  they 
fell  to  pieces  when  handled.  But  I  was  careful — how 
careful ! — to  save  these  last  sacred  relics,  all  that  was 
now  left  of  Rima ! — kissing  each  white  fragment  as  I 
lifted  it,  and  gathering  them  all  in  my  old  frayed 
cloak,  spread  out  to  receive  them.  And  when  I  had 
recovered  them  all,  even  to  the  smallest,  I  took  my 
treasure  home. 

Another  storm  had  shaken  my  soul,  and  had  been 
succeeded  by  a  second  calm,  which  was  more  complete 
and  promised  to  be  more  enduring  than  the  first. 
But  it  was  no  lethargic  calm ;  my  brain  was  more 
active  than  ever ;  and  by-and-by  it  found  a  work  for 
my  hands  to  do,  of  such  a  character  as  to  distinguish 
me  from  all  other  forest  hermits,  fugitives  from  their 
fellows,  in  that  savage  land.  The  calcined  bones  I 
had  rescued  were  kept  in  one  of  the  big,  rudely 
shaped,  half-burnt  earthen  jars,  which  Nuflo  had 
used  for  storing  grain  and  other  food-stuff.  It  was 
of  a  wood-ash  colour;  and  after  I  had  given  up  my 
search  for  the  peculiar  fine  clay  he  had  used  in  its 


GREEN  MANSIONS  329 

manufacture — for  it  had  been  in  my  mind  to  make  a 
more  shapely  funeral  urn  myself — I  set  to  work  to 
ornament  its  surface.  A  portion  of  each  day  was 
given  to  this  artistic  labour;  and  when  the  surface 
was  covered  with  a  pattern  of  thorny  stems,  and  a 
trailing  creeper  with  curving  leaf  and  twining  ten- 
dril, and  pendent  bud  and  blossom,  I  gave  it  colour. 
Purples  and  black  only  were  used,  obtained  from  the 
juices  of  some  deeply  coloured  berries;  and  when  a 
tint,  or  shade,  or  line  failed  to  satisfy  me  I  erased  it, 
to  do  it  again ;  and  this  so  often  that  I  never  com- 
pleted my  work.  I  might,  in  the  proudly  modest 
spirit  of  the  old  sculptors,  have  inscribed  on  the  vase 
the  words,  Abel  was  doing  this.  For  was  not  my 
ideal  beautiful  like  theirs,  and  the  best  that  my  art 
could  do  only  an  imperfect  copy — a  rude  sketch? 
A  serpent  was  represented  wound  round  the  lower 
portion  of  the  jar,  dull-hued,  with  a  chain  of  irregu- 
lar black  spots  or  blotches  extending  along  its  body : 
and  if  any  person  had  curiously  examined  these  spots 
he  would  have  discovered  that  every  other  one  was  a 
rudely  shaped  letter,  and  that  the  letters,  by  being 
properly  divided,  made  the  following  words : — 

Sin  vos  y  siu  dios  y  mi. 

Words  that  to  some  might  seem  wild,  even  insane  in 
their  extravagance,  sung  by  some  ancient  forgotten 
poet ;  or  possibly  the  motto  of  some  love-sick  knight- 
errant,  whose  passion  was  consumed  to  ashes  long  cen- 


330  GREEN  MANSIONS 

turies  ago.  But  not  wild  nor  insane  to  me,  dwelling 
alone  on  a  vast  stony  plain  in  everlasting  twilight, 
where  there  was  no  motion,  nor  any  sound;  but  all 
things,  even  trees,  ferns,  and  grasses,  were  stone. 
And  in  that  place  I  had  sat  for  many  a  thousand 
years,  drawn  up  and  motionless,  with  stony  fingers 
clasped  round  my  legs,  and  forehead  resting  on  my 
knees ;  and  there  would  I  sit,  unmoving,  immovable, 
for  many  a  thousand  years  to  come — I,  no  longer  I, 
in  a  universe  where  she  was  not,  and  God  was  not. 

The  days  went  by,  and  to  others  grouped  them- 
selves into  weeks  and  months ;  to  me  they  were  only 
days — not  Saturday,  Sunday,  Monday,  but  nameless. 
They  were  so  many  and  their  sum  so  great,  that  all 
my  previous  life,  all  the  years  I  had  existed  before 
this  solitary  time,  now  looked  like  a  small  island  im- 
measurably far  away,  scarcely  discernible,  in  the 
midst  of  that  endless  desolate  waste  of  nameless  days. 

My  stock  of  provisions  had  been  so  long  consumed 
that  I  had  forgotten  the  flavour  of  pulse  and  maize 
and  pumpkins  and  purple  and  sweet  potatoes.  For 
Nuflo's  cultivated  patch  had  been  destroyed  by  the 
savages — not  a  stem,  not  a  root  had  they  left :  and  I, 
like  the  sorrowful  man  that  broods  on  his  sorrow  and 
the  artist  who  thinks  only  of  his  art,  had  been  im- 
provident, and  had  consumed  the  seed  without  put- 
ting a  portion  into  the  ground.  Only  wild  food,  and 
too  little  of  that,  found  with  much  seeking  and  got 
with  many  hurts.      Birds   screamed  at   and  scolded 


GREEN  MANSIONS  331 

me ;  branches  bruised  and  thorns  scratched  me ;  and 
still  worse  were  the  angry  clouds  of  waspish  things 
no  bigger  than  flies.  Buzz — buzz!  Sting* — sting! 
A  serpent's  tooth  has  failed  to  kill  me ;  little  do  I 
care  for  your  small  drops  of  fiery  venom  so  that  I  get 
at  the  spoil — grubs  and  honey.  My  white  bread  and 
purple  wine!  Once  my  soul  hungered  after  knowl- 
edge ;  I  took  delight  in  fine  thoughts  finely  expressed ; 
I  sought  them  carefully  in  printed  books :  now  only 
this  vile  bodily  hunger,  this  eager  seeking  for  grubs 
and  honey,  and  ignoble  war  with  little  things ! 

A  bad  hunter  I  proved  after  larger  game.  Bird 
and  beast  despised  my  snares,  which  took  me  so  many 
waking  hours  at  night  to  invent,  so  many  daylight 
hours  to  make.  Once,  seeing  a  troop  of  monkeys 
high  up  in  the  tall  trees,  I  followed  and  watched  them 
for  a  long  time,  thinking  how  royally  I  should  feast 
if  by  some  strange  unheard-of  accident  one  were  to 
fall  disabled  to  the  ground  and  be  at  my  mercy. 
But  nothing  impossible  happened,  and  I  had  no  meat. 
What  meat  did  I  ever  have  except  an  occasional  fledg- 
ling, killed  in  its  cradle,  or  a  lizard,  or  small  tree- 
frog  detected,  in  spite  of  its  green  colour,  among  the 
foliage?  I  would  roast  the  little  green  minstrel  on 
the  coals.  Why  not?  Why  should  he  live  to  tinkle 
on  his  mandolin  and  clash  his  airy  cymbals  with  no 
appreciative  ear  to  listen?  Once  I  had  a  different 
and  strange  kind  of  meat ;  but  the  starved  stomach 
is  not  squeamish.     I  found  a  serpent  coiled  up  in  my 


332  GREEN  MANSIONS 

way  in  a  small  glade,  and  arming  myself  with  a  long 
stick,  I  roused  him  from  his  siesta,  and  slew  him 
without  mercy.  Rima  was  not  there  to  pluck  the 
rage  from  my  heart  and  save  his  evil  life.  No  coral 
snake  this,  with  slim,  tapering  body,  ringed  like  a 
wasp  with  brilliant  colour;  but  thick  and  blunt,  with 
lurid  scales,  blotched  with  black ;  also  a  broad,  flat, 
murderous  head,  with  stony,  ice-like,  whity-blue  eyes, 
cold  enough  to  freeze  a  victim's  blood  in  its  veins  and 
make  it  sit  still,  like  some  wide-eyed  creature  carved 
in  stone,  waiting  for  the  sharp,  inevitable  stroke — 
so  swift,  at  last,  so  long  in  coming.  "  O  abominable 
flat  head,  with  icy-cold,  humanlike,  fiend-like  eyes,  I 
shall  cut  you  off  and  throw  you  away !  "  And  away 
I  flung  it,  far  enough  in  all  conscience;  yet  I  walked 
home  troubled  with  a  fancy  that  somewhere,  some- 
where down  on  the  black,  wet  soil  where  it  had  fallen, 
through  all  that  dense,  thorny  tangle  and  millions 
of  screening  leaves,  the  white,  lidless,  living  eyes  were 
following  me  still,  and  would  always  be  following  me 
in  all  my  goings  and  comings  and  windings  about  in 
the  forest.  And  what  wonder?  For  were  we  not 
alone  together  in  this  dreadful  solitude,  I  and  the 
serpent,  eaters  of  the  dust,  singled  out  and  cursed 
above  all  cattle?  He  would  not  have  bitten  me,  and 
I — faithless  cannibal ! — had  murdered  him.  That 
cursed  fancy  would  live  on,  worming  itself  into  every 
crevice  of  my  mind ;  the  severed  head  would  grow  and 


GREEN  MANSIONS  333 

grow  in  the  night-time  to  something  monstrous  at 
last,  the  hellish  white  lidless  eyes  increasing  to  the 
size  of  two  full  moons.  "  Murderer !  murderer ! " 
they  would  say ;  "  first  a  murderer  of  your  own  fel- 
low-creatures— that  was  a  small  crime ;  but  God, 
our  enemy,  had  made  them  in  His  image,  and  he 
cursed  you;  and  we  two  were  together,  alone  and 
apart — you  and  I,  murderer !  you  and  I,  murderer !  " 

I  tried  to  escape  the  tyrannous  fancy  of  thinking 
of  other  things  and  by  making  light  of  it.  "  The 
starved,  bloodless  brain,"  I  said,  "  has  strange 
thoughts."  I  fell  to  studying  the  dark,  thick,  blunt 
body  in  my  hands ;  I  noticed  that  the  livid,  rudely 
blotched,  scaly  surface  showed  in  some  lights  a  lovely 
play  of  prismatic  colours.  And  growing  poetical,  I 
said,  "  When  the  wild  west  wind  broke  up  the  rain- 
bow on  the  flying  grey  cloud  and  scattered  it  over  the 
earth,  a  fragment  doubtless  fell  on  this  reptile  to  give 
it  that  tender  celestial  tint.  For  thus  it  is  Nature 
loves  all  her  children,  and  gives  to  each  some  beauty, 
little  or  much;  only  to  me,  her  hated  stepchild,  she 
gives  no  beauty,  no  grace.  But  stay,  am  I  not 
wronging  her?  Did  not  Rima,  beautiful  above  all 
things,  love  me  well?  said  she  not  that  I  was  beauti- 
ful? " 

"  Ah,  yes,  that  was  long  ago,"  spoke  the  voice  that 
mocked  me  by  the  pool  when  I  combed  out  my  tangled 
hair.     "  Long  ago,  when  the  soul  that  looked  from 


334  GREEN  MANSIONS 

your  eyes  was  not  the  accursed  thing  it  is  now.  Now 
Rima  would  start  at  the  sight  of  them ;  now  she  would 
fly  in  terror  from  their  insane  expression." 

"  O  spiteful  voice,  must  you  spoil  even  such  appe- 
tite as  I  have  for  this  fork-tongued  spotty  food? 
You  by  day  and  Rima  by  night — what  shall  I  do — ■ 
what  shall  I  do?" 

For  it  had  now  come  to  this,  that  the  end  of  each 
day  brought  not  sleep  and  dreams,  but  waking  vi- 
sions. Night  by  night,  from  my  dry  grass  bed  I 
beheld  Nuflo  sitting  in  his  old  doubled-up  posture,  his 
big  brown  feet  close  to  the  white  ashes — sitting  silent 
and  miserable.  I  pitied  him ;  I  owed  hira  hospitality ; 
but  it  seemed  intolerable  that  he  should  be  there.  It 
was  better  to  shut  my  eyes;  for  then  Rima's  arms 
would  be  round  my  neck ;  the  silky  mist  of  her  hair 
against  my  face,  her  flowery  breath  mixing  with  my 
breath.  What  a  luminous  face  was  hers !  Even 
with  close-shut  eyes  I  could  see  it  vividly,  the  translu- 
cent skin  showing  the  radiant  rose  beneath,  the  lus- 
trous eyes,  spiritual  and  passionate,  dark  as  purple 
wine  under  their  dark  lashes.  Then  my  eyes  would 
open  wide.  No  Rima  in  my  arms !  But  over  there, 
a  little  way  back  from  the  fire,  just  beyond  where  old 
Nuflo  had  6at  brooding  a  few  minutes  ago,  Rima 
would  be  standing,  still  and  pale  and  unspeakably 
sad.  Why  does  she  come  to  me  from  the  outside 
darkness  to  stand  there  talking  to  me,  yet  never  once 
lifting  her  mournful  eyes  to  mine?     "  Do  not  believe 


GREEN  MANSIONS  335 

it,  Abel ;  no,  that  was  only  a  phantom  of  your  brain, 
the  What-I-was  that  you  remember  so  well.  For 
do  you  not  see  that  when  I  come  she  fades  away  and 
is  nothing?  Not  that — do  not  ask  it.  I  know  that 
I  once  refused  to  look  into  your  eyes,  and  afterwards, 
in  the  cave  at  Riolama,  I  looked  long  and  was  happy 
• — unspeakably  happy !  But  now — oh,  you  do  not 
know  what  you  ask ;  you  do  not  know  the  sorrow  that 
has  come  into  mine;  that  if  you  once  beheld  it  for 
very  sorrow  you  would  die.  And  you  must  live. 
But  I  will  wait  patiently,  and  we  shall  be  together  in 
the  end,  and  see  each  other  without  disguise.  Noth- 
ing shall  divide  us.  Only  wish  not  for  it  soon ;  think 
not  that  death  will  ease  your  pain,  and  seek  it  not. 
Austerities?  Good  works?  Prayers?  They  are 
not  seen ;  they  are  not  heard,  they  are  less  than  noth- 
ing, and  there  is  no  intercession.  I  did  not  know 
it  then,  but  you  knew  it.  Your  life  was  your  own; 
you  are  not  saved  nor  judged!  acquit  yourself — undo 
that  which  you  have  done,  which  Heaven  cannot 
undo — and  Heaven  will  say  no  word  nor  will  I.  You 
cannot,  Abel,  you  cannot.  That  which  you  have 
done  is  done,  and  yours  must  be  the  penalty  and  the 
sorrow — yours  and  mine — yours  and  mine — yours 
and  mine." 

This,  too,  was  a  phantom,  a  Rima  of  the  mind,  one 
of  the  shapes  the  ever-changing  black  vapours  of  re- 
morse and  insanity  would  take ;  and  all  her  mournful 
sentences  were  woven  out  of  my  own  brain.     I  was 


336  GREEN  MANSIONS 

not  so  crazed  as  not  to  know  it;  only  a  phantom,  an 
illusion,  jet  more  real  than  reality — real  as  my  crime 
and  vain  remorse  and  death  to  come.  It  was,  indeed, 
Rima  returned  to  tell  me  that  I  that  loved  her  had 
been  more  cruel  to  her  than  her  cruellest  enemies ;  for 
they  had  but  tortured  and  destroyed  her  body  with 
fire,  while  I  had  cast  this  shadow  on  her  soul — this 
sorrow  transcending  all  sorrows,  darker  than  death, 
immitigable,  eternal. 

If  I  could  only  have  faded  gradually,  painlessly, 
growing  feebler  in  body  and  dimmer  in  my  senses 
each  day,  to  sink  at  last  into  sleep !  But  it  could 
not  be.  Still  the  fever  in  my  brain,  the  mocking 
voice  by  day,  the  phantoms  by  night;  and  at  last  I 
became  convinced  that  unless  I  quitted  the  forest 
before  long,  death  would  come  to  me  in  some  terrible 
shape.  But  in  the  feeble  condition  I  was  now  in,  and 
without  any  provisons,  to  escape  from  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Parahuari  was  impossible,  seeing  that  it  was 
necessary  at  starting  to  avoid  the  villages  where  the 
Indians  were  of  the  same  tribe  as  Runi,  who  would 
recognise  me  as  the  white  man  who  was  once  his  guest 
and  afterwards  his  implacable  enemy.  I  must  wait, 
and  in  spite  of  a  weakened  body  and  a  mind  diseased, 
struggle  still  to  wrest  a  scanty  subsistence  from  wild 
nature. 

One  day  I  discovered  an  old  prostrate  tree,  buried 
under  a  thick  growth  of  creeper  and  fern,  the  wood  of 
which  was   nearly  or  quite  rotten,   as   I  proved  by 


GREEN  MANSIONS  337 

thrusting  my  knife  to  the  haft  in  it.  No  doubt  it 
would  contain  grubs — those  huge,  white  wood-borers 
which  now  formed  an  important  item  in  my  diet.  On 
the  following  day  I  returned  to  the  spot  with  a 
chopper  and  a  bundle  of  wedges  to  split  the  trunk  up, 
but  had  scarcely  commenced  operations  when  an  ani- 
mal, startled  at  my  blows,  rushed  or  rather  wriggled 
from  its  hiding-place  under  the  dead  wood  at  a  dis- 
tance of  a  few  yards  from  me.  It  was  a  robust, 
round-headed,  short-legged  creature,  about  as  big 
as  a  good-sized  cat,  and  clothed  in  a  thick,  greenish- 
brown  fur.  The  ground  all  about  was  covered  with 
creepers,  binding  the  ferns,  bushes,  and  old  dead 
branches  together;  and  in  this  confused  tangle  the 
animal  scrambled  and  tore  with  a  great  show  of  en- 
ergy, but  really  made  very  little  progress ;  and  all  at 
once  it  flashed  into  my  mind  that  it  was  a  sloth — a 
common  animal,  but  rarely  seen  on  the  ground — with 
no  tree  near  to  take  refuge  in.  The  shock  of  joy 
this  discovery  produced  was  great  enough  to  unnerve 
me,  and  for  some  moments  I  stood  trembling,  hardly 
able  to  breathe ;  then  recovering  I  hastened  after  it, 
and  stunned  it  with  a  blow  from  my  chopper  on  its 
round  head. 

"  Poor  sloth !  "  I  said  as  I  stood  over  it.  "  Poor 
old  lazy-bones !  Did  Rima  ever  find  you  fast  asleep 
in  a  tree,  hugging  a  branch  as  if  you  loved  it,  and 
with  her  little  hand  pat  your  round,  human-like 
head ;  and  laugh  mockingly  at  the  astonishment  in 


338  GREEN  MANSIONS 

your  drowsy,  waking  eyes ;  and  scold  you  tenderly  for 
wearing  your  nails  so  long,  and  for  being  so  ugly? 
Lazy-bones,  your  death  is  revenged !  0  to  be  out  of 
this  wood — away  from  this  sacred  place — to  be  any- 
where where  killing  is  not  murder !  " 

Then  it  came  into  my  mind  that  I  was  now  in  pos- 
session of  the  supply  of  food  which  would  enable  me 
to  quit  the  wood.  A  noble  capture !  As  much  to  me 
as  if  a  stray,  migratory  mule  had  rambled  into  the 
wood  and  found  me,  and  I  him.  Now  I  would  be  my 
own  mule,  patient,  and  long-suffering,  and  far-going, 
with  naked  feet  hardened  to  hoofs,  and  a  pack  of 
provender  on  my  back  to  make  me  independent  of  the 
dry,  bitter  grass  on  the  sunburnt  savannahs. 

Part  of  that  night  and  the  next  morning  was  spent 
in  curing  the  flesh  over  a  smoky  fire  of  green  wood 
and  in  manufacturing  a  rough  sack  to  store  it  in,  for 
I  had  resolved  to  set  out  on  my  journey.  How 
safely  to  convey  Rima's  treasured  ashes  was  a  sub- 
ject of  much  thought  and  anxiety.  The  clay  vessel 
on  which  I  had  expended  so  much  loving,  sorrowful 
labour  had  to  be  left,  being  too  large  and  heavy  to 
carry;  eventually  I  put  the  fragments  into  a  light 
sack ;  and  in  order  to  avert  suspicion  from  the  people 
I  would  meet  on  the  way,  above  the  ashes  I  packed  a 
la}rer  of  roots  and  bulbs.  These  I  would  say  con- 
tained medicinal  properties,  known  to  the  white  doc- 
tors, to  whom  I  would  sell  them  on  my  arrival  at  a 


GREEN  MANSIONS  339 

Christian  settlement,  and  with  the  money  buy  myself 
clothes  to  start  life  afresh. 

On  the  morrow  I  would  bid  a  last  farewell  to  that 
forest  of  many  memories.  And  my  journey  would 
be  eastwards,  over  a  wild  savage  land  of  mountains, 
rivers,  and  forests,  where  every  dozen  miles  would  be 
like  a  hundred  of  Europe ;  but  a  land  inhabited  by 
tribes  not  unfriendly  to  the  stranger.  And  perhaps 
it  would  be  my  good  fortune  to  meet  with  Indians 
travelling  east  who  would  know  the  easiest  routes ; 
and  from  time  to  time  some  compassionate  voyager 
would  let  me  share  his  wood-skin,  and  many  leagues 
would  be  got  over  without  weariness,  until  some  great 
river,  flowing  through  British  or  Dutch  Guiana, 
would  be  reached;  and  so  on,  and  on,  by  slow  or  swift 
stages,  with  little  to  eat  perhaps,  with  much  labour 
and  pain,  in  hot  sun  and  in  storm,  to  the  Atlantic  at 
last,  and  towns  inhabited  by  Christian  men. 

In  the  evening  of  that  day,  after  completing  my 
preparations,  I  supped  on  the  remaining  portions  of 
the  sloth,  not  suitable  for  preservation,  roasting  bits 
of  fat  on  the  coals  and  boiling  the  head  and  bones 
into  a  broth;  and  after  swallowing  the  liquid  I 
crunched  the  bones  and  sucked  the  marrow,  feeding 
like  some  hungry  carnivorous  animal. 

Glancing  at  the  fragments  scattered  on  the  iloor,  I 
remembered  old  Nuflo,  and  how  I  had  surprised  him 
at  his  feast  of  rank  coatimundi  in  his  secret  retreat. 


340  GREEN  MANSIONS 

"  Nuflo,  old  neighbour,"  said  I,  "  how  quiet  you  are 
under  your  green  coverlet,  spangled  just  now  with 
yellow  flowers  !  It  is  no  sham  sleep,  old  man,  I  know. 
If  any  suspicion  of  these  curious  doings,  this  feast  of 
flesh  on  a  spot  once  sacred,  could  flit  like  a  small 
moth  into  your  mouldy  hollow  skull,  you  would  soon 
thrust  out  your  old  nose  to  sniff  the  savour  of  roast- 
ing fat  once  more." 

There  was  in  me  at  that  moment  an  inclination  to 
laughter:  it  came  to  nothing,  but  affected  me 
strangely,  like  an  impulse  I  had  not  experienced  since 
boyhood — familiar,  yet  novel.  After  the  good-night 
to  my  neighbour,  I  tumbled  into  my  straw  and  slept 
soundly,  animal-like.  No  fancies  and  phantoms  that 
night:  the  lidless,  white,  implacable  eyes  of  the  ser- 
pent's severed  head  were  turned  to  dust  at  last:  no 
sudden  dream-glare  lighted  up  old  Cla-cla's  wrinkled 
dead  face  and  white,  blood-dabbled  locks:  old  Nuflo 
stayed  beneath  his  green  coverlet ;  nor  did  my  mourn- 
ful spirit-bride  come  to  me  to  make  my  heart  faint  at 
the  thought  of  immortality. 

But  when  morning  dawned  again  it  was  bitter  to 
rise  up  and  go  away  for  ever  from  that  spot  where  I 
had  often  talked  with  Rima — the  true  and  the  vision- 
ary. The  sky  was  cloudless  and  the  forest  wet  as  if 
rain  had  fallen ;  it  was  only  a  heavy  dew,  and  it  made 
the  foliage  look  pale  and  hoary  in  the  early  night. 
And  the  light  grew,  and  a  whispering  wind  sprung 
as  I  walked  through  the  wood;  and  the  fast-evaporat- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  341 

ing  moisture  was  like  a  bloom  on  the  feathery  fronds 
and  grass  and  rank  herbage;  but  on  the  higher  foli- 
age it  was  like  a  faint  iridescent  mist — a  glory  above 
the  trees.  The  everlasting  beauty  and  freshness  of 
nature  was  over  all  again,  as  I  had  so  often  seen  it 
with  joy  and  adoration  before  grief  and  dreadful 
passions  had  dimmed  my  vision.  And  now  as  I 
walked,  murmuring  my  last  farewell,  my  eyes  grew 
dim  again  with  the  tears  that  gathered  to  them. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

BEFORE  that  well-nigh  hopeless  journey  to  the 
coast  was  half  over  I  became  ill — so  ill  that 
anyone  who  had  looked  on  me  might  well  have  imag- 
ined that  I  had  come  to  the  end  of  my  pilgrimage. 
That  was  what  I  feared.  For  days  I  remained  sunk 
in  the  deepest  despondence ;  then,  in  a  happy  mo- 
ment, I  remembered  how,  after  being  bitten  by  the 
serpent,  when  death  had  seemed  near  and  inevitable, 
I  had  madly  rushed  away  through  the  forest  in 
search  of  help,  and  wandered  lost  for  hours  in  the 
storm  and  darkness,  and  in  the  end  escaped  death, 
probably  by  means  of  these  frantic  exertions.  The 
recollection  served  to  inspire  me  with  a  new  des- 
perate courage.  Bidding  good-bye  to  the  Indian  vil- 
lage where  the  fever  had  smitten  me,  I  set  out  once 
more  on  that  apparently  hopeless  adventure.  Hope- 
less, indeed,  it  seemed  to  one  in  my  weak  condition. 
My  legs  trembled  under  me  when  I  walked,  while  hot 
sun  and  pelting  rain  were  like  flame  and  stinging  ice 
to  my  morbidly  sensitive  skin. 

For  many  days  my  sufferings  were  excessive,  so 
that  I  often  wished  myself  back  in  that  milder  pur- 
gatory of  the  forest,  from  which  I  had  been  so  anx- 

342 


GREEN  MANSIONS  343 

ious  to  escape.  When  I  try  to  retrace  my  route  on 
the  map  there  occurs  a  break  here — a  space  on  the 
chart  where  names  of  rivers  and  mountains  call  up 
no  image  to  my  mind,  although,  in  a  few  cases,  they 
were  names  I  seem  to  have  heard  in  a  troubled  dream. 
The  impressions  of  nature  received  during  that  sick 
period  are  blurred,  or  else  so  coloured  and  exagger- 
ated by  perpetual  torturing  anxiety,  mixed  with  half- 
delirious  night-fancies,  that  I  can  only  think  of  that 
country  as  an  earthly  inferno,  where  I  fought  against 
every  imaginable  obstacle,  alternately  sweating  and 
freezing,  toiling  as  no  man  ever  toiled  before.  Hot 
and  cold,  cold  and  hot,  and  no  medium.  Crystal 
waters ;  green  shadows  under  coverture  of  broad, 
moist  leaves ;  and  night  with  dewy  fanning  winds — 
these  chilled  but  did  not  refresh  me ;  a  region  in  which 
there  was  no  sweet  and  pleasant  thing;  where  even 
the  Ita  palm  and  mountain  glory  and  airy  epiphyte 
starring  the  woodland  twilight  with  pendent  blossoms 
had  lost  all  grace  and  beauty ;  where  all  brilliant  col- 
ours in  earth  and  heaven  were  like  the  unmitigated 
sun  that  blinded  my  sight  and  burnt  my  brain. 
Doubtless  I  met  with  help  from  the  natives,  other- 
wise I  do  not  see  how  I  could  have  continued  my 
journey:  yet,  in  my  dim  mental  picture  of  that  pe- 
riod I  see  myself  incessantly  dogged  by  hostile  sav- 
ages. They  flit  like  ghosts  through  the  dark  forest; 
they  surround  me  and  cut  off  all  retreat,  until  I 
burst    through    them,    escaping    out    of    their    very 


344  GREEN  MANSIONS 

hands,  to  fly  over  some  wide,  naked  savannah,  hear- 
ing their  shrill,  pursuing  yells  behind  me,  and  feeling 
the  sting  of  their  poisoned  arrows  in  my  flesh. 

This  I  set  down  to  the  workings  of  remorse  in  a 
disordered  mind  and  to  clouds  of  venomous  insects 
perpetually  shrilling  in  my  ears  and  stabbing  me 
with  their  small,  fiery  needles. 

Not  only  was  I  pursued  by  phantom  savages  and 
pierced  by  phantom  arrows,  but  the  creations  of  the 
Indian  imagination  had  now  become  as  real  to  me  as 
anything  in  nature.  I  was  persecuted  by  that  su- 
perhuman man-eating  monster  supposed  to  be  the 
guardian  of  the  forest.  In  dark,  silent  places  he  is 
lying  in  wait  for  me:  hearing  my  slow,  uncertain 
footsteps  he  starts  up  suddenly  in  my  path,  out-yell- 
ing the  bearded  aguaratos  in  the  trees ;  and  I  stand 
paralysed,  my  blood  curdled  in  my  veins.  His  huge, 
hairy  arms  are  round  me ;  his  foul,  hot  breath  is  on 
my  skin ;  he  will  tear  my  liver  out  with  his  great  green 
teeth  to  satisfy  his  raging  hunger.  Ah,  no,  he  can- 
not harm  me !  For  every  ravening  beast,  every  cold- 
blooded, venomous  thing,  and  even  the  frightful  Cu- 
rupita,  half  brute  and  half  devil,  that  shared  the  for- 
est with  her,  loved  and  worshipped  Rima,  and  that 
mournful  burden  I  carried,  her  ashes,  was  a  talis- 
man to  save  me.  He  has  left  me,  the  semi-human 
monster,  uttering  such  wild,  lamentable  cries  as  he 
hurries  away  into  the  deeper,  darker  woods,  that  hor- 


GREEN  MANSIONS  345 

tot  changes  to  grief,  and  I,  too,  lament  Rima  for  the 
first  time:  a  memory  of  all  the  mystic,  unimaginable 
grace  and  loveliness  and  joy  that  had  vanished  smites 
on  my  heart  with  such  sudden,  intense  pain  that  I 
cast  myself  prone  on  the  earth  and  weep  tears  that 
are  like  drops  of  blood. 

Where,  in  the  rude  savage  heart  of  Guiana  was  this 
region  where  the  natural  obstacles  and  pain  and  hun- 
ger and  thirst  and  everlasting  weariness  were  terri- 
ble enough  without  the  imaginary  monsters  and  le- 
gions of  phantoms  that  peopled  it,  I  cannot  say. 
Nor  can  I  conjecture  how  far  I  strayed  north  or 
south  from  my  course.  I  only  know  that  marshes 
that  were  like  Sloughs  of  Despond,  and  barren  and 
wet  savannahs,  were  crossed ;  and  forests  that  seemed 
infinite  in  extent  and  never  to  be  got  through ;  and 
scores  of  rivers  that  boiled  round  the  sharp  rocks, 
threatening  to  submerge  or  dash  in  pieces  the  frail 
bark  canoe — black  and  frightful  to  look  on  as  rivers 
in  hell;  and  nameless  mountain  after  mountain  to  be 
toiled  round  or  toiled  over.  I  may  have  seen  Ro- 
raima  during  that  mentally  clouded  period.  I 
vaguely  remember  a  far-extending  gigantic  wall  of 
stone  that  seemed  to  bar  all  further  progress — a 
rocky  precipice  rising  to  a  stupendous  height,  seen 
by  moonlight,  with  a  huge  sinuous  rope  of  white  mist 
suspended  from  its  summit;  as  if  the  guardian  ca- 
moodi  of  the  mountain  had  been  a  league-long  spec- 


346  GREEN  MANSIONS 

tral  serpent  which  was  now  dropping  its  coils  from 
the  mighty  stone  table  to  frighten  away  the  rash  in- 
truder. 

That  spectral  moonlight  camoodi  was  one  of  many 
serpent  fancies  that  troubled  me.  There  was  an- 
other, surpassing  them  all,  which  attended  me  many 
days.  When  the  sun  grew  hot  overhead  and  the  way 
was  over  open  savannah  country  I  would  see  some- 
thing moving  on  the  ground  at  my  side  and  always 
keeping  abreast  of  me.  A  small  snake,  one  or  two 
feet  long.  No,  not  a  small  snake,  but  a  sinuous 
mark  in  the  pattern  on  a  huge  serpent's  head,  five 
or  six  yards  long,  always  moving  deliberately  at  my 
side.  If  a  cloud  came  over  the  sun,  or  a  fresh  breeze 
sprang  up,  gradually  the  outline  of  that  awful  head 
would  fade  and  the  well-defined  pattern  would  resolve 
itself  into  the  motlings  on  the  earth.  But  if  the  sun 
grew  more  and  more  hot  and  dazzling  as  the  day  pro- 
gressed, then  the  tremendous  ophidian  head  would 
become  increasingly  real  to  my  sight,  with  glistening 
scales  and  symmetrical  markings ;  and  I  would  walk 
carefully  not  to  stumble  against  or  touch  it ;  and 
when  I  cast  my  eyes  behind  me  I  could  see  no  end  to 
its  great  coils  extending  across  the  savannah.  Even 
looking  back  from  the  summit  of  a  high  hill  I  could 
see  it  stretching  leagues  and  leagues  away  through 
forests  and  rivers,  across  wide  plains,  valleys  and 
mountains,  to  lose  itself  at  last  in  the  infinite  blue 
distance. 


GREEN  MANSIONS  347 

How  or  when  this  monster  left  me — washed  away 
by  cold  rains  perhaps — I  do  not  know.  Probably  it 
only  transformed  itself  into  some  new  shape,  its  long 
coils  perhaps  changing  into  those  endless  processions 
and  multitudes  of  pale-faced  people  I  seem  to  remem- 
ber having  encountered.  In  my  devious  wanderings 
I  must  have  reached  the  shores  of  the  undiscovered 
great  White  Lake,  and  passed  through  the  long  shin- 
ing streets  of  Manoa,  the  mysterious  city  in  the  wil- 
derness. I  see  myself  there,  the  wide  thoroughfare 
filled  from  end  to  end  with  people,  gaily  dressed  as  if 
for  some  high  festival,  all  drawing  aside  to  let  the 
wretched  pilgrim  pass,  staring  at  his  fever  and  fam- 
ine-wasted figure,  in  its  strange  rags,  with  its  strange 
burden. 

A  new  Ahasuerus,  cursed  by  inexpiable  crime,  yet 
sustained  by  a  great  purpose. 

But  Ahasuerus  prayed  ever  for  death  to  come  to 
him  and  ran  to  meet  it,  while  I  fought  against  it  with 
all  my  little  strength.  Only  at  intervals,  when  the 
shadows  seemed  to  lift  and  give  me  relief,  would  I 
pray  to  Death  to  spare  me  yet  a  little  longer;  but 
when  the  shadows  darkened  again  and  hope  seemed 
almost  quenched  in  utter  gloom,  then  I  would  curse 
it  and  defy  its  power. 

Through  it  all  I  clung  to  the  belief  that  my  will 
would  conquer,  that  it  would  enable  me  to  keep  off 
the  great  enemy  from  my  worn  and  suffering  body 
until  the  wished  goal  was  reached ;  then  only  would  I 


348  GREEN  MANSIONS 

cease  to  fight  and  let  death  have  its  way.  There 
would  have  been  comfort  in  this  belief  had  it  not  been 
for  that  fevered  imagination  which  corrupted  every- 
thing that  touched  me  and  gave  it  some  new  hateful 
character.  For  soon  enough  this  conviction  that  the 
will  would  triumph  grew  to  something  monstrous,  a 
parent  of  monstrous  fancies.  Worst  of  all,  when  I 
felt  no  actual  pain,  but  only  unutterable  weariness 
of  body  and  soul,  when  feet  and  legs  were  numb  so 
that  I  knew  not  whether  I  trod  on  dry  hot  rock  or  in 
slime,  was  the  fancy  that  I  was  already  dead,  so 
far  as  the  body  was  concerned — had  perhaps  been 
dead  for  days — that  only  the  unconquerable  will  sur- 
vived to  compel  the  dead  flesh  to  do  its  work. 

Whether  it  really  was  will — more  potent  than  the 
bark  of  barks  and  wiser  than  the  physicians — or 
merely  the  vis  medicatrix  with  which  nature  helps  our 
weakness  even  when  the  will  is  suspended,  that  saved 
me  I  cannot  say ;  but  it  is  certain  that  I  gradually 
recovered  health,  physical  and  mental,  and  finally 
reached  the  coast  comparatively  well,  although  m}' 
mind  was  still  in  a  gloomy,  desponding  state  when  I 
first  walked  the  streets  of  Georgetown,  in  rags,  half- 
starved  and  penniless. 

But  even  when  well,  long  after  the  discovery  that 
my  flesh  was  not  only  alive,  but  that  it  was  of  an 
exceedingly  tough  quality,  the  idea  born  during  the 
darkest  period  of  my  pilgrimage,  that  die  I  must, 
persisted   in   my   mind.     I   had   lived   through   that 


GREEN  MANSIONS  349 

which  would  have  killed  most  men — lived  only  to  ac- 
complish the  one  remaining  purpose  of  my  life. 
Now  it  was  accomplished;  the  sacred  ashes  brought 
so  far,  with  such  infinite  labour,  through  so  many  and 
such  great  perils,  were  safe  and  would  mix  with  mine 
at  last.  There  was  nothing  more  in  life  to  make  me 
love  it  or  keep  me  prisoner  in  its  weary  chains.  This 
prospect  of  near  death  faded  in  time;  love  of  life 
returned,  and  the  earth  had  recovered  its  everlasting 
freshness  and  beauty :  only  that  feeling  about  Rima's 
ashes  did  not  fade  or  change,  and  is  as  strong  now 
as  it  was  then.  Say  that  it  is  morbid — call  it  super- 
stition if  you  like ;  but  there  it  is,  the  most  powerful 
motive  I  have  known,  always  in  all  things  to  be  taken 
into  account — a  philosophy  of  life  to  be  made  to  fit 
it.  Or  take  it  as  a  symbol,  since  that  may  come  to 
be  one  with  the  thing  symbolised.  In  those  darkest 
days  in  the  forest  I  had  her  as  a  visitor — a  Rima  of 
the  mind,  whose  words  when  she  spoke  reflected  my 
despair.  Yet  even  then  I  was  not  entirely  without 
hope.  Heaven  itself,  she  said,  could  not  undo  that 
which  I  had  done ;  and  she  also  said  that  if  I  forgave 
myself  Heaven  would  say  no  word,  nor  would  she. 
That  is  my  philosophy  still :  prayers,  austerities,  good 
works — they  avail  nothing,  and  there  is  no  interces- 
sion, and  outside  of  the  soul  there  is  no  forgiveness 
in  heaven  or  earth  for  sin.  Nevertheless  there  is  a 
way,  which  every  soul  can  find  out  for  itself — even 
the  most  rebellious,  the  most  darkened  with  crime  and 


350  GREEN  MANSIONS 

tormented  by  remorse.  In  that  way  I  have  walked; 
and,  self-forgiven  and  self-absolved,  I  know  that  if 
she  were  to  return  once  more  and  appear  to  me — even 
here  where  her  ashes  are — I  know  that  her  divine  eyes 
would  no  longer  refuse  to  look  into  mine,  since  the 
sorrow  which  seemed  eternal  and  would  have  slain  me 
to  see  would  not  now  be  in  them. 


THE    END 


A  NOTE  ON  THE  TYPE  IN 
WHICH  THIS  BOOK  IS  SET 

This  book  is  composed  (on  the  Linotype),  in  Scotch. 
There  is  a  divergence  of  opinion  regarding  the  exact 
origin  of  this  face,  some  authorities  holding  that  it 
•was  first  cut  by  Alexander  Wilson  §  Son,  of  Glasgow, 
in  1837 j  others  trace  it  back  to  a  modernized  Caslon 
old  style  brought  out  by  Mrs.  Henry  Caslon  in  1796 
to  meet  the  demand  for  modern  faces  brought  about 
by  the  popularity  of  the  Bodoni  types.  Whatever  its 
origin,  it  is  certain  that  the  face  was  widely  used  in 
Scotland,  where  it  was  called  Modern  Roman,  and 
since  its  introduction  into  America  it  has  been  known 
as  Scotch.  The  essential  characteristics  of  the 
Scotch  face  are  its  sturdy  capitals,  its  full  rounded 
lower  case,  the  graceful  fillet  of  its  serifs  and  the 
funeral  effect  of  crispness. 


COMPOSED      BY     VAIL-BALLOU      PRESS,     INC., 

BINGHAMTON,       N.        Y.        PRINTED       AND 

BOUND    BY    H.   WOLFF    ESTATE,   NEW 

YORK.      PAPER     MADE      BY     S.      D. 

WARREN   CO.,   BOSTON. 


